Darkness

Before I begin, I wish to mention the lyrics to "Darkness", one of my favorite songs by The Police written by drummer nonpariel Stewart Copeland.

"I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws till I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring

I could make a mark if it weren't so dark
I could be replaced by any bright spark
But darkness makes me fumble
For a key
To a door
That's wide open..."

The journey: This blog is a documentation of my life. So it ticks along .... my life. We all traverse through rough times in life when we're desperately searching for purpose. Whether it is the loss of someone dear or a dear little friend who is lost in life, we all suffer losses and experience the negativity that trails behind. While it was natural for me to have fought these feelings in the past as a younger me, only recently have I started accepting them and even embracing them. That does not mean it's easy or that I asked for it. It is during these trying, dark times that I look for any sense of direction - a path in the shadows, a glimmer of hope, a staircase to elevate me to where the light glows.

Darkness sculpts life: "Only in your darkest moments will you discover your guiding light." Although I crave happiness most of the time, I have come to the realization that I have to venture through the shadows to discover the real me. When life weighs on us, understanding our dark moments can enrich and brighten our future.  Does experience gained through darkness make future setbacks easier? I don't believe so for one minute. The circumstances may be similar, yet each hurdle is unique and we learn and adapt from each one individually. Although we journey through dark times, they are not here to stay and I always look forward to a future filled with optimism. Hunker down. Fight Back. Until next time.

Hope Fuels Joy: All of which encouraged me to pick up my camera to pick a different direction. I wanted to shoot in black and white with a modern camera and classic legacy lenses from decades ago to portray a film noir look and eliminate the confusion contributed by colour. I kept it simple with just a couple of photographs shot within the boundaries of my home. The photographs have no message, other than we must chart out our own direction in life when we're confronted by hardships and we feel estranged. Isolating myself from my family and friends, only served to alienate myself from myself. In the past year I've hardly ever stepped outside my home. Yet I have learned more about myself, life in general, seen the world and how it operates more than in the past fifty years. I decided to focus my energy into my photography to create something of value to me. Inspiration from the song provided a theme for my project. Today, I'm happier than I've ever been in a long time, just radiating positivity. I hope you are too. Thanks for your time and friendship.

"Chiselled of Shadows"
In desperation, I look outside my frosted bathroom window
which hesitantly reveals blurry outlines from the other side.
It does not prevent me from looking outside.
It doesn't prevent someone from the outside looking in.
We all see what we want to see. I see light but remain in the dark.
A photograph gift from my friend Bob Rosinsky
lurks on the wall on the right. It is a reminder of a friend I no longer get to see.
(Click on image for higher resolution)

Look to the light for inspiration
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Wander into the dark for enlightenment
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It's not light or dark,
When a person in your life is gone, life is empty
(Click on image for higher resolution)

Introspect. Taking a deeper look at myself
Added June 30, 2021
(Click on image for higher resolution)

And so the song continues.

"Instead of worrying about my clothes
I could be someone that nobody knows
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring

I can dream up schemes when I'm sitting in my seat
I don't see any flaws till I get to my feet
I wish I never woke up this morning
Life was easy when it was boring"

All pictures shot with Fujifilm X-H1 and Carl Zeiss Touit 32mm f/1.8 lens in Acros-R mode although they have been processed differently as I do not have the correct Photoshop plugin for this camera.