Each week I send out a short, fresh reflection from the road – photographs, sketches, and observations from old places that still have something to teach us. What follows is a moment from that ongoing journey.
Out of sorts.
I head down the country via a circuitous route towards Portsmouth. I have a photo shoot at a medical facility in the city centre.
I get a bit caught up in myself every now and again - become a bit too obsessive. I worry enormously about maintaining standards and obsessing about detail. Like many creatives - it comes from a low self-esteem, a kind of imposter syndrome.
My way out of this kind of anxiety is to ground myself in the buildings around me - to stop and take in the differences, look upwards, look beyond. Others do the same - in their gardens, out in nature, with their hobbies.
It doesn't come naturally to me but, over the years, through my vocation as a photographer, I've developed a sense of playful curiosity. Curiosity is infectious and connective.
If you find yourself in a place and feel out of sorts - be curious.
Look for the story of the place. Look at the materials being used in the buildings - why flint and not stone? Why are all the houses in this village made of timber? Why all the buildings in this town have a curvy pantile?
Then look at the styles. Why, for example, is Bath so classical and York so Gothic?
Then try and seek out details - what is the embossed lead plaque on the brick wall? Why is the glass in the sash window full of imperfections? Beyond that look at the patterns, and beyond that, at how nature has co-existed with our buildings - the Buddleia behind the chimney or the lichen on the wall.
I love drilling down from a complex construct of the past (such as a cathedral) to the patina on its walls which holds more complexity than the building itself. A universe in the particular.
More on Mental Health and our Heritage:
Andy Marshall
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