Life. The Way I See It.

As a photographer, I am constantly trying to find new images to capture in new and creative ways.

But lately,

I have been challenged by this. The odd time, I will allow myself to indulge in fiction and while my mom was here, she bought me, The Paris Wife. It’s not that good and no Margaret Atwood. I probably wouldn’t recommend it on my 30 Books To Read Before You Are 30. It’s rather cliché and probably not very realistic (for a full review, I thought this was a good one.) What it has done however, was get me thinking about writing.

Hemingway is known for his blunt honest approach. He wrote what he saw. He didn’t try to dress it up in an unnecessary excess of adjectives but instead, used what he knew and his experiences to fuel his stories.

As an exercise in writing, I think it would be interesting to one day, either here, (or in Paris), to sit…

and watch…

and document…

Write what I see. Have you ever done that?

I am also going to attempt to implement this principle in my photography…to a degree. I feel so restricted by the pressure mentioned above, but what is photography, if not simply, capturing what I see.

I see me. Have you ever thought about how much you see you. We have one 8×10 mirror in our house. That’s it. And yet, I look in it every day, probably at least 4 times a day. What do you see?

And I see the world around me.

I love Cambridge for so many reasons. Reasons which I have recently been struggling to articulate. How do I describe how the sun shines off the University Arms across Parker’s Piece as I wait in queue with a dozen other cyclists for the light to change? Or the way, the city is always bustling with shoppers, tourists and vendors alike while the bells of St. Mary’s ring out across King’s parade, echoing off King’s College Chapel? Or how on Friday nights the city buzzes with students dressed in their tuxedos and gowns hurrying to high table. I could go on, but you still wouldn’t fully know how breath-taking everyday life is here, that is, if you choose to embrace it.

Which, during this dreary season, is exactly what I have been trying to do.

On Friday, Jakob’s school had a Mother’s Day assembly because here, in the UK, TODAY is Mother’s day…how nice that I get two 🙂 He did a great job singing the songs and saying he loved his mommy….”because she washes the dishes and she loves me.”
Now you know how I spend my time, and why I don’t take as many photos as I would like.

Ben was a little slow getting the memo on Mother’s Day however, so I got up with the kids and made breakfast, but this time, Ella was my helper. She did a great job, although, we discovered that her little wrists aren’t quite strong enough to pour the cup of milk in.

The weather has definitely been dampening spirits this week, so when the sun came out this afternoon, I jumped at the opportunity. Embraced the stuff life is made of: Sunsets, walks with my family, Nutella crépes. Nuf’ said.