The art of making nothing at all

Today's posting is a philisophical one. In it, I try to consider how as photographers, the act of making images, actually gets in the way of us being able to truly appreciate / relax / see what is really in front of us. Maybe what I'm saying, is the act of photography can end up with someone chasing so many images, that they are not able to see them anymore. Like a HiFi fanatic, who spends all his money on better audio cable, and finds he is no longer enjoying the music, but is too wrapped up in trying to make the quality perfect, so too, can chasing photographs mean, that we are no longer enjoying the scene, and because we are no longer enjoying it, we aren't able to connect and respond to anything beautiful that is presented to us. So in this posting, I suggest that sometimes, leaving the camera behind, and just letting yourself watch and study, absorb and enjoy the landscape, can be a great way of recharging your own photographic ability.

Lastly, I'm a great believer in things happening when they choose to, and not when I want them to. There will always be another day for photography, and there will always be 'just one more shot' that you want to make. The photographer who is never satisfied, never able to 'get everything', is chasing a dream.

--

A few weeks ago, I released a new eBook about self-awareness. In it, I covered the biggest stumbling block in making good images - ourselves and our 'issues'.

I've been thinking tonight, that I'm finding that after 10 years of intensive image making, I'm starting to just enjoy not using a camera, not going out specifically to make images. I'm wondering if it's true, that as photographers, we start off with a desire to photograph everything. Most of us have very limited free time, so when we do have that free time, we use it to do as much photography as we can. I can certainly testify that some of my portfolios were made in very intensive 3-week vacation blasts (Iceland in 2004 for instance).

But I've become more patient as a photographer. I like to just wait until things happen and I'm faced with something that I find inspiring. I also love to take the pressure of, by simply leaving the camera behind, and just wonder around a location and enjoy it for what it is.

There's something very enjoyable about looking at sand, and how the sand interacts with the sea, with a photographer's eye, but with no picture in mind, and no camera at hand. Where once I would be frustrated and wish to have my camera with me to photograph these moments, I now relish just enjoying them as they happen. I think this is because I know that amazing moments happen all the time. I often read articles where photographers explain how something suddenly amazing happened. Well, these things happen all the time. So it's very nice to just walk around and enjoy them.

I'm wondering if this intensity to make images is slowly ground down to a more relaxed attitude towards making new work. I feel no massive pressure to make new work, because I believe it happens when I least expect it to, and not when I command it. I also wonder that the things I loved about scenery to start with, before I owned a camera, are now overcoming the almost blinding desire to make images more than enjoy the scenery for what it is.

Maybe the ultimate act in photography, is to not photograph anything at all, but just recognise a moment, let it imprint itself onto your soul, for the briefest of moments, and enjoy it for what it is: a moment in life where we were conscious of what we saw and felt.

Holiday's are a coming

In a few weeks time, I'll be back in Reine, Lofoten for around 11 days. The trip is really to catch up with friends and also, to spend some time photographing Lofoten in the winter months before the snow comes next year.

I was chatting to my friend Vlad today and he emailed me this photo of Reine, Lofoten from a trip he did there recently. It was really nice to hear from him, and also to see a recent photograph of Reine. I feel as if it is a home from home.

As we were chatting, I remembered that Vlad also sent me this photograph of the Aurora, witnessed from our friends house in Reine. It happened just a few nights after I'd left to come home. Vlad was still there, and I couldn't believe he'd seen the Aurora happen from the balcony of the house I'd just left.

Of course, there is no guarantee about seeing the Aurora, and any photographic workshop that promises it, is to be avoided. It is a rare thing, and you really need a lot of time, and luck, to see it.

If you would like to see some more of Vlad's work (he's a really lovely chap too - he has a bit of a deep soul to him), then please view his gallery. Vlad also has a facebook page, which you should check out too.

Many thanks to Vladimir Donkov for letting me use his photographs, while I have no new ones to present.

The book is here

Well, I had to put a nice little intro together, but the title of this post says it all. The book arrived today and the morning started with a wee celebration in the form of some Swiss chocolate sent to me from a deal Swiss friend, to celebrate the release of my book. The chocolate boxes had pictures of the book and 'art of adventure' stamped all over them, so it made me laugh quite a bit.

I've got a bit of bubbly to take into my office today too.

I'll be spending today packing the advanced orders and inundating the post-office with them. They did say that if I left them with them, they would process them in their own good time, but I'm wondering how long it will take them?

There will be a book launch and signing this 28th of November at the McDonald Road library along with a 30 minute talk by myself about the making of some of the images contained within the book.

If you're intending on coming along to the book launch to buy a book, please do drop us a line and we can reserve a copy of the book for you.

If you can't make it to the launch, but would like a copy of the book, please go to the Half-Light Press website for more information.

Patagonia Safari, one space now available

Unfortunately, due to ill health, one of the participants for my Patagonia safari next year, will not be able to make it.

So I now have one freed up space for this Safari, and it's first come first served, so if you see this, and had been hoping to come along - now's the time to jump straight in and book it here.

New eBook - The art of self awareness

I'm pleased to let you know about a new eBook I've just released. Ever since I started to conduct photographic workshops, I've learned an awful lot about myself as a photographer. I'm sure for many of you, that might be a surprise, as you probably thought that workshops are all about the participants and how to improve their photography (they are). But in the process of working with others, I've often had to think about why I do certain things when I'm making images.

I'm not talking about technical aspects, such as what shutter speed or which aperture I chose for a particular image, but more about how I responded to a landscape the way I did, why I chose one composition over another, and perhaps more importantly, my general approach to all things creative.

We are creative people, and creative types tend to work based on feelings and intuitions they have about the work they're creating. I tend to have a lot of philosophical ideas about why I create my own work the way I do. And how I tend to respond to failure for instance. I'm highly objective about what I do, but I also allow myself to open up to what is presented to me.

So in this new eBook, I continue the themes set about in the 'Taj Mahal - a photographer's approach', and 'Lofoten - a photographer's approach', ebooks. Both of these eBooks discussed lots of ideas about how I tackle a project and how receptive I am to new ideas. In short - how I find images and how I work with the landscape.

The Art of Self awareness, a rather grand title, really tries to distill the idea that good photography lies in your own hands, and by having a clearer picture of who you are, and how you respond to your environment (or not, as the case may be), your photographic efforts may succeed or fail.

Here is a breakdown of the chapters contained within:

Contents

Bruce Percy 3 About the author

The Art of Self-Awareness 4 A better photographic approach

Iceland 6 A learning experience

Self Awareness 7 The art of looking inside in order to see outside

Re-evaluation 8 Do you take time to look back at your progress?

Failure as a gift 9 How do you react to your failures?

Organised Process 10 Do you dither and fuss?

Temperament 11 Are you impatient?

Conversation 12 Do you have a dialogue with the landscape?

Submission 13 Do you submit to the landscape?

Response 14 How do you feel when making images?

Narrow field of vision 15 Do you narrow your view to one thing?

Tuning in 16 Do you have a good sense of anticipation?

The devil is in the detail 17 Do you notice subtle changes in light, shade and tone?

Energy levels 18 How do you react when you’re tired?

Objectivity 19 Are you realistic?

Over-analysis 20 Do you over analyse?

Control freak 21 Do you fear your own creativity?

Never happy 22 Do you seek perfection or excellence?

Awareness studies 23

Well, that's quite a bit of thought provoking material there! Yes, it's taken me a while to work on this one, and I'm sure it's only really the beginning. But I grew tired of 'technical' websites years ago, and I never read any books about cameras or lenses these days. I'm much more interested in how we tick, what makes us the way we are.

My new ebook is available now, from my store.

Book Launch & Signing

Dear All, In conjunction with Beyond Words Photographic Book shop, I'm pleased to let you all know, that there will be a Book launch, held at the Mcdonald Library (Mcdonald Road, just off Leith Walk, Edinburgh) on Monday the 28th of November from 6:30 to 8pm.

There will be a talk, given by myself, about some of the images from the book from 7pm to 7:30pm.

From 7:30pm to 8pm, there will be a chance to buy a copy of the book, and have it signed by myself. There are no credit card facilities, so if you fancy a copy of the book, please bring cash or cheque book. Cost of the basic edition is £40.

If you would like to attend, then I'm pleased to let you know that attendance is free.

Please circulate this to anyone you think may be interested. The hall has enough space for up to 80 people.

@ the Matterhorn

The past few weeks have been really hectic for me. I'm the kind of person that needs a lot of space around me, in all shapes and forms. That means that not only do I need a lot of solitude, I also need to have a schedule which allows me time on my own.

So I have to say, that the past few years have been a real challenge to me. As my workshop participant and friend Sam Blair said to me after a workshop on the isle of Eigg 'don't forget to take some time to recharge your own batteries. Put the camera down for 30-60 days, ride a bike across Scotland, train for a 10K, volunteer, prepare an outline for your book, whatever the hell it might be. We all need to recharge, particularly creative people'

I admit to that. I'm a social person (so the workshops are great fun), but I also need time to recharge, time to get enthusiastic about the future, time to get enthused about something.

So this week I'm home, and I haven't been anywhere near my office, because, quite frankly, I can't face it. I've not had a day or so to just be on my own, with time to absorb what I've witnessed over the past few weeks, and that has been quite remarkable.

Last week I was in Switzerland, and while I was there, I spent two mornings at viewpoints looking towards the Matterhorn.

The Matterhorn, has for me, always been a symbol of what an iconic mountain should look like. Paramount Pictures based their icon, i'm convinced, on the Matterhorn*. Maybe you can correct me, but I think the Paramount Pictures image is of no particular mountain, but what they consider an 'iconic mountain shape'.

Anyway, my good friend Sonja sent me this photo today of me sitting on a ledge, looking out towards the Matterhorn. I must say I was surprised at how small the mountain seemed. Scale, size, are all banished when looking at an object of massive proportions from a distance. It was hard to get a grasp on how big the mountain is. Maybe this is a symbolic reference, and something I should take heed of.

Sometimes, the things we do, the chance encounter, the people we meet, the passing conversation, or the images we capture, all have a meaning, much more powerful than we can grasp at the time of the exchange. We often don't have a sense of scale, of importance to current events, until we're at a distance, so that we can apply some form of enlightenment, otherwise known as hindsight.

* Wikipedia (a very reliable source, not), has this to say about the Paramount Pictures Mountain "According to some sources, the Paramount Pictures logo, known as Majestic Mountain, was modeled after Mount Ben Lomond. It is said that William W. Hodkinson, the founder of Paramount and a native of the Ogden area, initially drew the image on a napkin during a meeting in 1914".

Personally, I do find it interesting, the idea of an icon, and of objects, people, ideas, becoming more than what they are. Paramount pictures mountain, for me, has always symbolised what the perfect mountain should be. I believe, with all my heart, that the Matterhorn is as close to that ideology as anything could be.

Book - local availability

For those of you who live locally - Edinburgh, and wish to come and pick up a copy of the book once it has been released (11th of November), you can now place an order for it on the Half-Light Press web store - choose Uk and 'pickup'. You will not be charged postage.

The book will be available for pick up at my office in town during normal working hours.

I may not be around, as I'm often away doing workshops, or working on personal photographic projects, but if I am there - I would be only too happy to talk about the book and sign it for you.

Books will be kept in the office for you to pick up during working hours of 9am to 5:30am, Monday to Friday.

My office address is:

Bruce Percy 33 Sandport Street Edinburgh Eh6 6EP

Please bear in mind that the book is not available until the 11th of November, but you can place and advanced order for it and come and pick it up after the release date. Limited edition copies with prints are selling out faster than I anticipated.

Appenzell, Switzerland

This article was written at the beginning of this week, but due to the release of my book, I shelved it until just now. We're just finishing up in Zermatt today and I'm flying home to the UK. ---

I'm in Switzerland this week. Right now, I'm sitting in a chalet below the Matterhorn, while we wait for some good weather. We will be heading up to some view points tomorrow evening to shoot sunset and then sunrise towards the mountain.

But I'm really here, because of connections I've made through my workshops. In 2009, I met my friend Peter, a Swiss, through the Eigg workshop I held in Scotland. He came back a month or two later to join me on my Harris workshop, and it was there, that he showed me some photos of the area of Switzerland that he lives in - Appenzell. My friend Sonja, came to my Torridon workshop in December 2009. Then there is Jurg and Dorin, who came on later trips. It seems the Swiss really love Scotland. So I am here with four friends and they have been showing me around Switzerland this past few days.

The images contained within this post are of Appenzell. I first found out about it when Peter showed me some photos on his iPhone while we were on the Harris workshop. I was immediately taken by the appearance of a simplistic landscape and, dare I say it, a 'toy town' look that I've never seen anywhere else.

For me, I have to feel a real connection with a place, before I go and shoot it. In fact, I have to be drawn to it. And I feel that Appenzell has some strange, overly 'unreal' feel to it, which makes it very attractive to me.

Due to the bad weather predicted for the north west of the country, we had to abort our plan to shoot around Appenzell. I was sad about this because I'm really drawn to the minimalist landscape that lies there. Peter did show me around the area for a few hours and I made some very quick 'sketches' with my little Lumix GF1. I'm now hoping to return in 2012 (time permitting) to make a more detailed study of the area, and to shoot it in much more ideal light. But I think you will see, that there is something very unusual and 'minimalist' about this landscape.

Book Update

Many thanks to the large number of you, who have made an advanced order for the book, and for the high turn out of special editions that have been sold.

I'm hoping to set up a book signing event for sometime, hopefully before the year is out. More soon on this.

If you'd like to make an advanced order for the book (release date 11th November), please go to the Half-Light press web site for more details.