I know I’ve talked about this before here, but as I age, I tend to be more of an introvert than an extrovert.
I get energized by being alone.
My mantra these days seems to be…..” alone but not lonely”
The difference between “alone” and “lonely” is that “alone” is a state of being by yourself, while “lonely” is a feeling of sadness or isolation. You can be alone without feeling lonely, or you can feel lonely even when you are not alone.
I’ve not heard many photographers talk about this but photography, at least the way I go about it, forms a kind of company and companionship to my existence.
It feels like I’m always around others, and things, through my photographs.
It’s just like, as I talked about a few days ago, through my photographs, I get comfort and company in this “continual present”.
I’ve often wondered if, I wasn’t in love with photography the way I am, would I experience loneliness more than I do?
I don’t know the answer to this.
I liked being alone as a child too. It was my own, special, unique world. Not much has changed since then. Artists live isolated lives-physically and emotionally.
Photographs are, to me, like bricks, where I’m building, over time and space, a visual city, one brick at a time.
And in this glorious city, even though much of it remains under construction, I am never alone and always at home.
I love this quote by the great Vincent Van Gogh who said, writing to his sister, “I haven’t left my room for two months. I don’t know why… But this will change all the same as time goes on. Only when I stand a painting before my easel do I feel somewhat alive.”
Alone but never lonely.
Click
Jack
