Running from shadows...

I was a bit alarmed this morning, on my photoshoot along the West Coast boardwalk, to be uninspired by the scenery, the hesitant morning light, a general lack of things to appreciate and even less, no inspiration from within.  My questions as I took a few haphazard shots were along the lines of:  Why here? Why now? Where is the joy I experienced on former personal safaris? Then, as I aimed at  a crab who seemed just as impressed by me as I at him, I found myself being confrontational with this creature...why run away you little coward? I asked him.  And I forgot all abut aesthetics in that moment, forgot about statements, about the whys and hows of my photography.  The one question was:  Why do I fear crabs (and their human-created mythology of fear) and why do they seem to hate me (or just about anyone who approaches)?  I engaged these few crabs for just about 15 minutes as the realization dawned on me that they can see my shadow coming and run to hide in their own shadows, just as I do sometimes in my own shadow, in response to my own very human fears.  A different take on light I guess...The other images here are like the little bit of relief from that existential piercing of the bubble...

Under Mother's Wing

So, very little is actually written here but the images reflect one important aspect of my mother's character that I seem to have inherited: Curiosity, as the force which keeps me looking and sometimes actually seeing!  Happy Mother's Day to Hyacinth (my Mum) and all those other significant surrogate mothers in my life!  Forgive me for being so enraptured by the odd.

Scorched: A Lenten Reflection

These were taken along a one mile stretch of curving road between Banantyne and St.David's, Christ Church, this afternoon, an area that always seems to get burnt at this most dry time of year, along with many other parts of the countryside of Barbados.  In 15 minutes, I found in the landscape an echo of my own aridity and withdrawal. And yet I haven't felt so hopeful in weeks! Seeing in the little sprigs of grass and the golden sunlight accentuating what was burnt, I could imagine without trying the field gradually transforming from this desolate canvas of browns, golds and blue/greys into the usual greens.  They will return to their normal verdant state before long. The desert experience will come to an end eventually. That's some Lent!

Happy Easter!

Awake From Your Slumber!

 Well, that message is really for me...I witnessed my second sunrise for the year this morning, which was some sort of a record!  This time it was with the Barbados Photographic Society as a guest of one of their members.  Never in my life did I see such morning glories!  It was simply stunning, well worth the meager dose of sleep I had the night before to ensure an early start!  Some 30-40 souls clambered along the dark path after meeting at St.Andrew's Church and without exception we tried our best to capture the unfolding spectacle along our rugged East Coast.  For my own part I was skeptical that I would capture much, being in this rapid fire mode - "shoot before you think" - but I did settle down to consider what I felt were the the messages I was receiving from the land and sea and sky this morning - what is my response to such a gift?  I hope you can tell from my photos.  Thanks to Andrea U. who has been an occasional photography partner and who encouraged me to let go of the "odious claptrap*" that the world can be! (*From Big Sur and the Oranges of Heironymous Bosch by Henry Miller).  By the way, Barbados, once the jewel the crown of the British sugar producing empire, would have had over 500 windmills, such as the one you see here.  Morgan Lewis Mill is on of the very few working windmills of its age remaining in the region.  It was restored by the Barbados National Trust during the 1990s and has hosted real cane grinding sessions, a la 19th century, in recent years.