Delusions of Delirium

August 24, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

Usually I try to update once a month, and recently my militant thoughts about the naysayers of the artworld nearly reached this blog. However, I've mellowed down, plus Richard McKeever wrote a more eloquent piece on the subject of my most recent muse. Okay so she was 1 metre shorter than I first heard, but at 6 metres tall and with an enigmatic smile, movement of steam-punk grace, Lady Godiva came to town. Before you click on my gallery of Godiva Awakes, let me give you a little back story of the day she arrived...

Being a year of many celebrations there has been a buzz in the air. Good, bad, otherwise, taking part is what counts.  We kept seeing little yellow signs warning us of traffic delays in our area for Godiva Awakes. Google being a more direct source of info than our local council, I sought out what was happening on August 4, 2012.
There it was, Godiva Awakes, a monumental puppet powered by a 50 strong team on a Cyclopedia created by Imagineers Productions in Coventry.
She had a message to deliver to a Town Hall in London (Waltham Forest) and along the way she would be greeting the public. Delving further into the site, I learnt more about her creation and the influence of her story. What struck me the most was that Godiva represented a refreshing approach in bringing together so many talented people, often unsung, and together they created an incredible piece of art in motion. She was a gift from Coventry for all to see.

Having a break from all things fotográfico, it was this event that I thought was definitely worth bringing the 60D along to. Godiva would appear at a nearby town of Waltham Abbey and I knew the Lady would look great next to the Abbey Church. Plus King Harold, (of the famous Battle of Hastings 1066) her grandson-in-law has a grave stone in memoria there.

The crowds were slowly building once she arrived, many people were surprised and were phoning their friends in excitement to come down and see the spectacle. This event didn't appear to be widely reported, certainly not in the national media, except a few years back when there were scoffs at the concept of the Cultural Olympiad being developed and the money being spent etc. (Which I won't go into, I did research this but I'm not going to be political here).

Milling around I happily took a series of photos of Godiva, playing with a few settings and waited for her to stand with the help of her walking rig. Again I kept composition in check with her height and the Abbey behind her. Though it was only until I got home and reviewed the images in Lightroom, I was so happy I went along.
The scenes looked dramatic, especially the monochrome setting I used. Just a few tweaks on the camera and boy did those clouds look menacing!
(Edit: There was little or no post production on this set) Okay go and have a look at the gallery, then pop back...I'll be here...

Even with just the 18-55mm kit lens, I thought, my equipment had been a worthy investment. Although I'm a long way off from nicer lenses and peer reviews, if I like it...then that can only be a good thing and here's why:

Finding my voice
In the early days of this website I wrote that I wasn't raised or educated in a particular artistic way. Somewhere along my life, the sense of expression was inherent and intended, but strangely it became stifled. I understood the language of art in its many different forms, but I felt stuck at the observer level. I dared to think it was me who was doing the stifling, with self-criticism and being intimidated by others' achievements.
That sounds peculiar, I know! Let me put it this way; Art is not for the mutually exclusive and that if I freed up personal inhibitions, embrace a sense of belief, concentrate, only letting small morsels of influence filter in, I think I can start finding my voice and using it more.

Reality Check
Well, here's a big one. I am in my 10th year of working for myself. Shouldn't I be a CEO of my own conglomerate by now? I suppose it can be done, but then I did pick up two redundancies, two children, two pets, a mortgage and several crushing blows to my self esteem along the way.

Some people might wonder why I don't offer my services directly as a photographer online. I use photography as a means of expression, not primarily as a service. I do the occasional private commission and although I flirt with a variety of industries, I like to dip into areas for inspiration.

With not being a natural salesperson, nor a business expert, these are areas horrendously in need of review, my strengths lay in visualising. And I visualise pretty damn good with concepts. Too much, maybe, I see the end result of an idea, chart a path to it's realisation, then abandon until further notes can make it happen. (See what I did there? :D )

(Addendum) Feeling this post was a pithy cry for help - we have only one week left to get our offspring back to school, I'll be able to think clearly then.


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