"Each answer I write seems to be an act of surrender, but at the same time a kind of armouring up — vulnerability as a form of protection." —Nick Cave, The Red Hand Files, Issue #116

When I read Nick Cave’s answer to a question from a reader about freeing himself from fear, I was impressed with how he cut to the heart of the matter. When I paraphrase Nick’s reply, it goes something like this.

Every picture I take is an act of surrender, but not giving up. Filling the frame and calling it my own is my way of showing the world my truest self. While I am my most vulnerable, I am my strongest.

a few more words from Nick on letting go . . .

“I feel that if I stay true to myself and follow my intuitions, if I surrender control of life’s outcomes, things tend to work out okay.”

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

Is it weird that I’ve been taking pictures for over 30 years and I’m right back where I started?

I’ve veered all over the place. Not just off the path but into ditches and ruts. I made wrong turns and u-turns. I backed up, started over, jumped lanes, swerved and at times came to a complete stop. And I guess all of that was necessary. Because I find myself in the happiest of places these days, where the pictures call out to me, and my greatest joy is placing what I love in the frame.

In my current works I find the love of simple things I knew as a young girl. I have reconnected with my own kind heart and beginner’s mindset and whatever I make seems okay. The process of photography fills my days and restores my spirit.

“What is documented, at last, is not the thing itself but the way of seeing—the object infused with the subject.” — Mark Doty