I could spend my days taking in the sights here, and by that I mean taking them into my camera. There was discussion yesterday about the camera robbing one of the experience of seeing (tourists flocking to a sunrise, 2000 cameras out), but I felt that wasn’t fair, at least not to all who wander with camera. A counter argument was made that the camera asks you to see, to stop and frame and focus. I agree with the latter, of course.
I am here to write. Do the images (does the landscape) help my writing? Quite likely, but this isn’t an essay on seeing. Below this window is a story waiting words. I did wonder, during yesterday’s discussion, what taking photographs and my desire to write have in common, what thing am I trying to achieve/attain/accomplish with each. I like the ooh and the aah factor. A deeper part of me says, quietly, something about illuminating the nature of being. See the here while we’re here and see it in new ways.
One week left to take more pictures and try to write. Photos are easier. Talking about writing, art, philosophy is easier. I’ve edited “One for the Master” (sheep novel), made minor changes throughout, and have passed it along to Dionne Brand. I will read from it on the 20th.
Indistractable 
You wondered what was the connection between writing and taking pictures. I’ve always thought of writing as an art form, just like painting or sculpting. After all, don’t we sculpt words and sentences into stories? Perhaps it’s as simple as that, and you, as the artist you are, simply have the photographers eye. You certainly have a talent with music as well. So my money is on Lee Thompson, world traveler and multi-talented artist.
LikeLike
The question still is, Why sculpt anything? What does the eye frame? Who am I that I need to create? Are people who don’t create empty, or do they have no need to fill any emptiness? And so on. Unanswerable, of course, as art is driven by questions more than answers.
LikeLike