An old shot – Varanasi, 9 April 2010 – but it illustrates so nicely the earnest exchanges that can go on between “photographer” and “subject”, even when they have little or no language in common.
They say time flies.
They are right!
I can’t believe I’ve completed a full two years of weekly postings.
It has been an interesting challenge: to try to tie photos together in some sort of theme every week, and to not have two successive weeks too similar.
Finding subjects is easy.
What is harder is negotiating an agreement (explicitly or implicitly) when those subjects are people. As a general rule, I don’t practice true street photography – I don’t like having MY picture taken, so I don’t usually make people’s pictures without their knowledge or consent.
Self-portrait in a peanut warehouse window.
Finding story ideas is easy.
Once again, I have been lucky enough to travel a fair bit over the last year, and have had wonderful opportunities to make pictures in seven countries on three continents. What I haven’t always had is the light or weather I wanted, access to the angles I would have liked, or the time (or patience) to craft the picture sequence properly.
My ‘photographic assistant’ and myself reflected in a water feature, Bo Phut, Koh Samui. 23 April 2012
Aside from the obvious difficulty of making time to edit photos and words, one of the hardest things for me is always to do with choice. Leaving some of my favourite pictures out – those pictures that don’t quite fit, or that don’t add to the story in some way – is just painful!
While my predominant purpose in starting – and continuing – my Weekly Wanders has been to discipline my writing and photography practice, it is always nice to have an audience. I am very appreciative to those of you who have left comments or who have messaged me privately. Even those of you who are ‘invisible’ count: 11,285 unique visitors last year, according to Google Analytics, and many from places I’ve never heard of!
Thanks to you all. 🙂
On the road again… In the rain again… 24 June 2012
Special thanks goes, as always, to my ever-patient husband, who is travelling with me more than ever these days, and who often gets the privilege of carrying one of my cameras. In fact, you might notice him in the corner or in the background of a lot of shots.
A special gift. 16 July 2011, Siem Reap, Cambodia
As much as I love photographing colours, textures, flowers, trees and buildings, it is people that make the difference. I am very grateful to those people who have made photographing them such a pleasure.
Our last year has been one of big changes and I’m not sure what the next one will bring.
One way or another, though, my camera and I will still keep wandering.
I hope you will join me!
Ursula, hardly seems, for me at least, to have been two years already. I know the work you put into this and I always love being the proof reader before you post.
Keep up the good work and looking forward to another year of Wanders.
Your sometime assistant