Matters of time
Photomedia | Visual enquirypassing by . while we wait . left behind
Photography as a medium serves our need and curiosity to capture moments of interest. I've often found the most interesting of my snapshots have been taken for an aesthetic element of the image, while the more poignant facets were noticed in hindsight.
The themes of passing and waiting emerged from a time of impatience and existential confusion in my life, when I found associations amongst previously unrelated images. This has now lead me to continue taking photos with a greater awareness for the way we approach such usual day to day activities, with an aim to chronicle the dimensions of a single word. And of course, in the search for these opportunities, I am also waiting.
passing by
Some things are fleeting, so fast that it's easy to feel like it never happened. We could have missed it. Or maybe we did miss it. People that passed us without knowing we were there. Points of interest we looked right over. Things that give us a sense of loss, matched with things that give us a a sense of wonder. Moments of history. Potential opportunities. Places we've gone past so many times that its inherent symbolism has lost its meaning. Sometimes we might wish that we can bring it back. Though would we recognise it even if it really returned?
while we wait
We wait. All the time. We wait for things to happen, for things to show up, for things to be different from how it was before. We wait in short queues for small things and long queues for big things. We wait for help and for opportunity, and in less frustrating times enjoy the peace of feeling the seconds and minutes go by. At other times other people and other things would wait for us too. Companions that wait with us. Strangers that involve waiting as part of their profession. Places designed for things that need to wait, or wait for us to bring life back into it.
left behind
We often don’t notice the things we’ve left behind. Or we don’t realise just how long those things have been left there. Why we felt the need to make a mark, the significance of making others aware of our presence. Often we leave things behind because it’s easier to let it go. We throw things away for convenience without further thought of they used to be. We forget that it happened, that it was there. Until we stumble across something else that another had left behind, and we once again start to wonder. We start to think about why that particular thing is there. How long it will be there for. How long until someone or something comes to take it away, then where it will end up after that. Whether those marks will disappear completely. How long does corrosion take. How long until we start to think of something else and our previous thoughts are simply left behind to continue drifting in a field of unknowns, and will we ever remember to pick them up again.
Client
Self-initiated