Hello....sometimes things happen for a reason....don't you think?
Feeling peaceful at the moment, it's is all quiet, i have a moment to think.
....BUT FIRST I SHOULD INTRODUCE MYSELF....
I was born in Brighton,it was a good place to grow up in, be a teenager in. My lot were into the rock scene back then, hanging out in the north lanes, tipsy stumbles on the palace pier and skate boarding round parks ( not me-not in my heels! ) Oh yes, teenage dreams, some realized, some lost - others not even imagined yet.
I liked the more creative subjects at school, the only subjects i was top of the class in ( before i met boys ) was indeed art, french, religious education- ( for the philosophical discussions ) music and drama. I went on to study theatre studies, Law and English lit at college. I remember there being far to many pubs near the college and going with our tutors far too often...
Later i studied sound engineering against modern computer technology, i was convinced it should stay old school and raw..oh youth, now i dabble with logic.
My blood is rather mixed, mainly Italian and celt roots, gets more interesting as I delve deeper . I Spent several months living in Tuscany where days and nights blended beautifully, later i moved to West London for several years and last year I ended up in Ireland-here i stay, for now........
....PHOTOGRAPHY-WHERE IT ALL BEGAN....?
An uncle gave me my first slr, it was an olympus OM1, a beautiful thing, still have it delicately put away, I take it out and look at it sometimes, I thought it was giant, it's tiny compared to my Cannon 40 D - I had a stirring inside me to take photographs back in my early teens, music photography, candid " truth" finding shots are what impressed me most, passionate about music i thought this would be the perfect profession .
I wanted to be like Linda McCartney ,then Linda Eastman ( she took some bloody good photos back in the 60's )... unfortunately film was just to expensive, i could go through roll after roll and i still have a few undeveloped rolls somewhere,one day i will develop them....one day.
I was writing on etsy that the invention of digital has made it possible for so many people to be able to really involve themselves with photography, with endless experimentation and expression . Its just the most liberating feeling . Once you have the tools , it's free and freeing.
I did indeed begin with being employed in music, festivals , gigs and such. I have been published several times in magazines, papers and have worked on a few projects including one for Trace Elliot .
I began a photography group on facebook a while back " I see a photograph every time my eyes are open " never a truer word spoken. It seems i am not alone.
" If Eyes are the windows to the soul-then the camera is the portal out" I always say this because it is truth, to me, when i made this quote it all suddenly became as clear as clear.
I avoided pouring over books of" the great " photographers-i did not want to be swayed-influenced-in any manner until i found my own footing, until i was happy with what i produced-i never knowingly copied a style i never sought to be like another. I take what i see and that is all. It is one's own soul that captures the image- I do not lie to my soul nor does my soul lie to me.
......NOW FOR THE AFTER EFFECT......
The other day i wrote something, it is lost now, but my thoughts are the same.....
once again without lock or key i will endeavor to be honest with you .
I spoke of flight and how when i make a photograph something happens, my stomach becomes filled with butterflies and i feel my wings spread out behind me, my feet lifted ever so slightly off the cliffs edge but my heart is ready to jump .To fall winged and smiling.
I spoke of how i have found a love for something other than human, a need, a raw desire.
I am grateful for this, beyond words.
I spoke of how for that fleeting moment when something takes me and i capture it, one takes a little of it's essence , it's power like a ghost...a trail.. it's prints..and i can call it my own, although, i feel that it is still part of the universes, the image, this effigy it's merely shared with the billions of people in this planet and solar system and i have no real right to say it is mine. But, because i have caught something transient , because i have looked because i can share with you, what is essentially ours it makes me soar..........there is only one feeling that can emulate this.
I also spoke of how the unsightly has now become truth and wonder and how nature is flowering before me . Everything i absorb differently , voyeuristically , i step back and breathe it in and am compelled to take a little of it, and i do this with my camera.
Music is the perfect accompaniment ...zenith..... Music is hugely essential . I will take you there with my impression a portrayal, but you must beat your own rhythm , play your own strings.
Finally i said something which i must say, this is that for the rest of my days i will make photographs, even if my eyes are the only to see them.
My little girl- you are inspiration
Thank you .
Laura x
http://ljaphotography.etsy.com
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