Departures are almost always sad to me. I guess it's because I can get very attached to people, situations. When we left for Mexico, that was a happy departure. But I still felt that connection to the house that I'd lived in with Paul for 17 years. I think I'm just sentimental. Who knows why?
Yeah, departures are sad. In this one instance, I was happy to let my old stories go, a kind of thank you and now I am going to try and see if I can live without falling back on these old “this happened to me and then that happened.” It just felt like I was ready to do that and see who I was without them. Thank you for reading, Jeanine!
I really feel this one deeply Priya. The unconscious release came to me over the last several days. You’ve given me a beautiful image to ponder this release of old stories, old layers of being, old habits. 🙏
I think I said something similar the first time I read this piece but either way —
I think it’s very powerful to visualise things in this way. I feel like somethings don’t map well to language and so metaphorical imagery can help us understand in a way words sometimes don’t allow.
Love this prompt as "departure" is something that I feel I've been exploring in taking up photography in the last year or so. I even had "departure" as the theme for awhile on my Adobe portfolio site. It's certainly one theme of my work.
The most obvious sense of departure is wanting to become a photographer after 15+ years of corporate work. Also deciding to leave the old career behind.
But there is another level to it that I'm sensing given that I'm now an abstract photographer.
In abstract photographer, there are essentially no rules. I decide what "the rules" are for how I alter an object or setting based on the movements I make during the exposure. I also decide what the rules are, image by image, for how I will edit that image in a manner that most brings out its character that's revealed during the editing process.
I wonder if subconsciously, I needed to ignore the rules of so many years of rule-laden work. I started out with attempting to become a very technical photographer but it did not sit well with me.
So, I departed from the traditional lessons of photography in order to become more in touch with myself by getting out there and practicing curiosity and playfulness.
I do wonder if my abstract photography is a sort of a protest against so many years of rigidity around thinking and entrenched ways of doing things.
Joe, thank you for reading. You are the only one who can say what it is about abstract photography that draws you, but assuming you are somewhere in that broad zone that qualifies as midlife, it’s great that these questions are coming up for you. In my experience, the questions lead to the most interesting answers and places. Good luck on the journey!
Beautiful metaphor. Birds releasing along with old stories. I don’t have any release so poetic. Mine happens in meditation, prayer or tears.
I love that, Carissa! Meditation, prayer, or tears. There’s so much poetry there.
Departures are almost always sad to me. I guess it's because I can get very attached to people, situations. When we left for Mexico, that was a happy departure. But I still felt that connection to the house that I'd lived in with Paul for 17 years. I think I'm just sentimental. Who knows why?
Yeah, departures are sad. In this one instance, I was happy to let my old stories go, a kind of thank you and now I am going to try and see if I can live without falling back on these old “this happened to me and then that happened.” It just felt like I was ready to do that and see who I was without them. Thank you for reading, Jeanine!
I really feel this one deeply Priya. The unconscious release came to me over the last several days. You’ve given me a beautiful image to ponder this release of old stories, old layers of being, old habits. 🙏
That’s wonderful to hear, Kim! For all that I am a writer, images do something else for me. Thank you for reading!
I think I said something similar the first time I read this piece but either way —
I think it’s very powerful to visualise things in this way. I feel like somethings don’t map well to language and so metaphorical imagery can help us understand in a way words sometimes don’t allow.
Yeah, you captured that exactly right, Michael! For all that we are writers, images just have some mystical power!
Definitely :)
Absolutely love this piece Priya. Lots to think about.
Thank you, Shital!
Love this prompt as "departure" is something that I feel I've been exploring in taking up photography in the last year or so. I even had "departure" as the theme for awhile on my Adobe portfolio site. It's certainly one theme of my work.
The most obvious sense of departure is wanting to become a photographer after 15+ years of corporate work. Also deciding to leave the old career behind.
But there is another level to it that I'm sensing given that I'm now an abstract photographer.
In abstract photographer, there are essentially no rules. I decide what "the rules" are for how I alter an object or setting based on the movements I make during the exposure. I also decide what the rules are, image by image, for how I will edit that image in a manner that most brings out its character that's revealed during the editing process.
I wonder if subconsciously, I needed to ignore the rules of so many years of rule-laden work. I started out with attempting to become a very technical photographer but it did not sit well with me.
So, I departed from the traditional lessons of photography in order to become more in touch with myself by getting out there and practicing curiosity and playfulness.
I do wonder if my abstract photography is a sort of a protest against so many years of rigidity around thinking and entrenched ways of doing things.
Joe, thank you for reading. You are the only one who can say what it is about abstract photography that draws you, but assuming you are somewhere in that broad zone that qualifies as midlife, it’s great that these questions are coming up for you. In my experience, the questions lead to the most interesting answers and places. Good luck on the journey!
Thank you Priya.