too busy at the moment to take Photographs

for the past month i've been trying to get on top of all work i need to hand in for my college course and not taken any photo's. i can't wait to finish and start photographing again instead of writing and staring at a computer screen. ... until then here's a photo of a tree up my road and someone with a balloon .

Born to kill

As i walked to the beach i saw a boy walking towards me, he was dressed in full camouflage uniform. He was in a day dream unaware of the world around him or the connotation of the uniform he wore. He looked like a soldier, but without the mental burden of his adult counterparts which fight and kill fellow human beings for the security of their country. I asked if i could take his photograph because he looked like a soldier eating an iced lolly... Which he did but i also wondered if he would grow up to serve in the army and fight in wars that have not even been conceived as let? I hope not. But i know some people have to , to make a living.

back in the day ... cyanotype

a cyanotype made using a 10x8 negative , the negative is a little dense and not contrasty enough.

All Day Breakfast For One

Prabu

Is it human nature to seek solace in religion?

Religion attempts to answer and explain Metaphysical questions as well as forming a moral and ethical framework, which all societies and cultures are built upon. The fundamental rules of these different religions were formed thousands of years ago-nonetheless modern day society is still governed by the basic ideals, which were established using these ancient philosophies. Are these religious views still valid today? With scientific discovery and technology emerging as the new dominant devotion, is there still a place for religion at all? Or is it even more relevant today? Even though technology is developing at an unbelievable rate, the fact that we will all succumb to death is inevitable. So what influences a person to seek out and practice a religious belief, when there are so many religions from which to choose? Why one specifically?

To investigate the many questions I have posed. I will make portraits of the people devoted to a specific religion. I have chosen to visit the Bhaktivedanta manor, outside Watford. It is the main hub of the international society of Krishna consciousness in the UK. Swami Prabhupada founded the international society of Krishna consciousness in the 1960’s. Its core beliefs are based on the Hindu scriptures Srimad Bhagavtam and the Bhagavad-Gita. According traditional Hindu views these texts date back more than 5000 years. The distinctive appearance of the movement and its culture come from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which has had adherents in India since the late 15th century and Western converts since the early 1930s.

ISKCON was formed to spread the practice of bhakti yoga (devotion to God), in which aspirant devotees (bhaktas) dedicate their thoughts and actions towards pleasing lord Krishna (God).

I have a personal connection with the religion as my Father has been practicing Krishna Consciousness for 15 years and has lived at the Bhaktivedanta manor as a monk for 12 years. It is my curiosity about the human condition that motivates me to pursue such a project. Religion unifies many different people from different social backgrounds and countries, although their motives for following will differ greatly. I will start to photograph these people as an outsider and attempt to adopt an objective analysis of my subject, although objectivity is difficult. Especially as I talk to the people I will photograph and grow more familiar with them, and them with me. I will look to represent the subjects as individuals existing inside a group. Each with there own personality and character traits. I hope this will be represented by the images I produce.

I should write more....

I know its a struggle.. and I'm not the best at it, but i need to write more often. i think thoughts all the time.. and get lost in my daydreams, but none of it is saved. sometimes i say something i'm surprised at , that these words came from my mouth .. a moment of articulation that i cannot manage on a day to day basis just a moment when my mind and brain and mouth worked together to convey a feeling or thought to someone else. who knows some of these thoughts may even have relevance to other people who can empathise with the things i think/write about?

i post photographs on my blog and simply neglect to annotate them with the reason why i find each image interesting or why i took it? its too easy to put photographs without an explanation because I'm a photographer and i try to communicate with images not words... thats what i kid myself into believing.

i find my new project i've started difficult to write about.