"You do know that's a great photograph, don't you?".
Someone whose thoughts on photography and photo editing I admire, is passing comment on a picture I've just posted on Instagram. I'm somewhat floored by their observations, I'm gladdened that they've taken the time to post such a lovely comments, but equally I realise that '...No, actually, I didn't think it was that great'.
In fact, if I go further back, back to the last decade when I was doing one of those daily online photo blog things, it would be someone else who need to tell me how good something was, often whilst the pictures I'd fretted so long over went more or less ignored.
In retrospect, and this is usually the time for retrospective thoughts, I can look back at the errors in whatever writing, videos or pictures that I thought were so fabulous at the time. Does knowing that I've not quite hit the mark make me want to stop producing things and curl up in embarrassment ? Hell no! And that's my advice to myself. Keep going and remembered Beckett's dictum: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
So here is my year, not in words but in pictures I have taken. Some might be good, I haven't given myself enough distance yet to decide yet. Over to you.
Glasgow Chimney, August
Richard Hawley at Moseley Folk Festival, September
There There My Deer, Attingham Park, October
Aston Road i, June
Self Esteem at The Hare and Hounds, November
Iona, August
Mike Scott of The Waterboys at Moseley Folk Festival, September
Number 5, Aston Road ii, June
Malvern, September
Capuchin monkey, Birmingham Wildlife and Nature Conservation Park, June
A Dead Tree in Cheltenham Spa, July
Nottingham Contemporary, July
