movin' on

If you come round here often, you may have noticed that lately I've not been sharing much of my photography. Actually, it's not lost on me either that many readers who enjoyed looking at my photos don't pop by anymore, since my blog evolved into a more diverse but still art-y one.
Sigh.
Allow me to explain.

Now, this photograph to date has had over 240 people fave it on flickr; 1,400+ have reblogged it on tumblr and I really have no idea how many other places it is now. And to be honest, I don't much care. **As a side note, I used to get in such a flap about being credited, but there are definitely more important things to worry about. Although the people who manipulate my photographs or add some crappy quote on top of them really annoy me. C'est la vie.**
So why has 'Grey's Anatomy' captured these imaginations? Much as I'd like to think otherwise, it's most likely because of the title. I had no idea when I named it that this was a popular US TV show. On the flipside, the vast majority of the people who have liked/re-blogged/pinned it have absolutely no idea of my 'meaning and intent'. {That's a phrase I have stolen from one of my former Breezies (thank you Graham) and it sums up perfectly what I am compelled for my photography to have. But I digress.}
So 'Grey's Anatomy' was one of a body of work I exhibited in 2010 and personal take on hands and feet; how they empower us, how incredibly complex they are and how we take them for granted. At no point did it have anything at all to do with a TV programme.
However, I am very proud of the photograph for several reasons: the context, the composition, the light and the soft blue/lilac tones. I am not proud of it because of it's popularity, that's neither here nor there. That makes me sound a little arrogant but I must remember not to get swept along by it and lose something important.
Authenticity.
I have taken some truly terrible photographs over the last three years. Pictures totally lacking in any sort of validity that I took purely because I knew they would be rewarded with that pink star on flickr over and over. As a result I have now pruned my flickr down severely, slinging out anything that lacks that authenticity. I have also made the decision that I will share on my blog film photography that I feel deserves to be shown. Equally, I have done much work I'm very proud of, that frequently goes under the radar and no-one really notices. But this type of work when it does get noticed by someone who really get's it, or is in someway moved or repulsed even by the image, that means so very, very much more to me.
I have been so focussed on that need to have meaning in my other forms of art, yet I sometimes allowed my photographs to be derivative and well, quite frankly meaningless. What a prat.

I love this photograph: it has a narrative, a quiet simplicity and is beautifully lit. But because it was untitled instead of being called 'House' or something, it never got noticed.
Daft innit? Or am I just taking myself too seriously? I do that.