AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!
That is the sound of us nearing the end of 2020, and I wrote that before the announcement of London entering the new and enhanced Tier 4, so AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH again!
I hope you are all doing okay, and have planned or re-planned your christmas satisfactorily. I would like to say a heartfelt thank-you to all those who take the time to read my blog posts, and a special thanks to those who regularly, or irregularly contact me to discuss or comment on my musings, it really is appreciated!
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Influences and ideas can come from unexpected places, and often do. You have probably experienced that when working on a big project, be it a wedding, home improvements or a creative venture you find that your mind is easily tuned in to anything even slightly relatable to said project. For a while now I have been actively reminding myself that this project is my first and foremost priority: that doesn’t mean I am neglecting my son or not concentrating at work, but it does mean that I am willing to sacrifice other things (a lot easier in the Covid era), and thoughts around the project are easily accessible. I am a fan of philosophical quotes, especially those that remind me of behaviours I find important to live a less agitated life. On a large noticeboard in my kitchen I have a hand-written reminder stating ‘Single-pointed attention’. I picked up the root of that quote from a practical philosophy course I attended, and believe that it is used in meditation as a way of maintaining focus on a physical point (often a candle flame), to train the mind not to run wild. For me, that single point is this project. Of course I waiver, but if I glance at those words I know instantly, and exactly where I want to place my energy.
This summer with lockdown, and an uncertain future ( in the short-term at least) it was photography that I turned to for support. The art world, and even people in photography’s commercial sector are notoriously hard to penetrate: from gate-keepers to 21st century ‘busy people’, securing a conversation with them is normally very hard. It turns out that they are human too, and they were feeling the loss of interaction with creative minds, and the freedom to visit shows, plan photoshoots, and arrange exhibitions and book launches for those they represent. Everyone became more accessible, offering Zoom talks from their homes, and relishing the opportunity to interact with other humans. It really was unique.
Some of the events I attended regularly were the Association of Photography’s ‘Breakfast Club’ hosted by Carol Allen-Story, Photo Book Cafe’s Shutdown sessions run by Matt Martin, and various, often amusing chats with Natasha Caruana, live from her Work, Show Grow Instagram page. I only discovered Natasha during lockdown, and she has become a bit of a legend in my eyes. She is a senior lecturer at University for the Creative Arts, but this September launched the virtual Work Show Grow school as co-founder, stating “there is a gap in formal education, where we teach a concrete syllabus, but we don’t teach the mindset of how you should pursue your career”. Quote taken from BJP issue 7899, September/October 2020.
Inspired by what I had seen I signed up for the WSG Money Workshop: How to secure funding this August. It ran over four sessions and had talks from various industry experts, who offered a wealth of useful information on where and how to secure money for personal projects. There was an emphasis on mindset around our work, and strong encouragement to recognise that what we do holds monetary value. Even before the pandemic came to play I had embarked on two very different (photography related) workshops in February and March. There has been a lot of learning going on at Amanda Eatwell HQ this year, and hopefully before too long I can put more of it to use!
Since embarking on 4 x 4 x 4 my photo-book collection has gone up massively. I think I’ve bought more books in general over the last three years than I did in the ten years preceding that. The lockdown situation only added to the book pile, as it was far too easy to discover a book online and order from the hip!
One book that excited me massively when I discovered it’s existence was The Open Road, by David Campany. It offers a history of photographic road trips in the United states from 1906 onwards, and contains work from some of the most revered photographers of the last century, including works by Joel Meyerowitz, William Eggleston, Justine Kurland and Ryan McGinley. Reflecting on the significance of the American road trip through photographers (and writers) experiences was one of the main catalysts for this project.
Images taken 1978/79 by Joel Sternfeld.
Carson relocated from his native Scotland in the 1990’s. I’ve Always Been a Cowboy in My Heart is Carson’s view as an outsider, creating photographic observations as they present themselves on his American road trips. He spent twelve years on it’s creation.
American Dreams by Ian Brown was published this year. I follow him on Instagram, and I regularly find myself drawn in to his images, staying with them longer than most on that platform. The images for this book were, like Carson, taken over a period of twelve years. As well as taking people’s portraits he would ask them to write down their american dreams, which has resulted in a captivating collection of words and pictures.
Some time back one of my readers cited the author Studs Terkel in response to something I had written. I was not aware of Studs, but when I was searching the web for where to buy Ian’s book I discovered that Studs wrote a book called American Dreams, Lost and Found. Maurice, if you are reading this you’ll be glad to know that that publication is now also on my bookshelf awaiting consumption!
In the autumn of 2019 whilst compiling the Spirited issue of fLIP Magazine, I was conversing with Paul Smith (not the designer) about his project Grow Decay which documents a small community of climate change protesters who have been building a new community in order to prevent a third runway being built at Heathrow Airport. We got into a more general conversation via email, and I mentioned my project. Without seeing any images he said something like ‘not since Paul Graham’s A1 has there been a really good project about road travel in England’. I wasn’t aware of Graham’s work then, but have subsequently become familiar with it. A1 - The Great North Road was first published in 1983, and set a new standard in colour documentary photography in the UK. I was excited to discover that it was being republished this September, and quickly added it to my Christmas wish list!
Then, two weeks ago a photographer-friend sent me a message saying that he had just visited the Paul Graham exhibition at Huxley-Parlour Gallery and that his work reminded me of my project! That did two things: made my day, as there was some resonance with my work without any prior association on my friend’s part, and made me wonder how on earth I had managed not to hear that it was on exhibition! Fortuitously I managed to visit the show on it’s last day, something my son thinks I do on purpose, as it is quite uncanny the amount of shows I see on their last day.
With those two examples, is it any wonder that I believe, somehow, all things are connected?
Photographs are not all that informs my work, so I’ll just mention a few books here that fit into different areas in my imaginary bookshop: On the Psychological side of things is Erich Fromm’s Fear of Freedom, which is both psycho-analytical and historical, and looks at why the very thing we claim to strive for may well be that which makes us cling to one form or other of totalitarianism. Also, somewhere between psychology and philosophy is Kae Tempest’s new book On Connection, described as “a mediation on the power of creative connection”.
Another genre, if I can call it that is all about people’s journeys and the way the experience of the journey helps them to navigate the world. A friend lent me her copy of The Salt Path, suggesting I would enjoy it, and I did! It tells the story of a free-spirited, and long-wedded couple who, when faced with eviction from the home they thought was theirs forever, made an impulsive decision to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path, despite the husband being very poorly at the time. They lived wild and free, whilst they figured things out. One of the first books I read with the project manifesting in my head was John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie. His observational musings on the people he meets and the difficulties he encounters are wonderful. I have to mention Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell. I first learned of this book when I was doing a short course in Narrative Non-Fiction. We only read an excerpt, but I transcribed a paragraph that I thought was so brilliantly and descriptively written, and it hung around on a piece of paper for years, until I finally bought the whole book. I didn’t intend to write it here, but… ‘or I would see him sitting among the young mothers and the old alcoholics in the sooty, pigeony, crumb-besprinkled, newspaper-bestrewn, privet-choked, coffin-shaped little park at Sheridan Square”.
I don’t recall what brought me to this book, but it’s a lengthy read. It weaves stories of the personal struggles of a young American writer, grappling with self-doubt, alongside observations of life in America and Europe from the Great Depression up to the years leading to World War ll.
Let me know any recommendations or resonances with books you have read.
I wish you all a calm Christmas and a bountiful year ahead. I shall also take the liberty of offering you one of my favourite quotes Take care of each moment, and you’ll take care of all time. It may be hard to live in the moment with all the uncertainty surrounding us right now, but it’s a tiny little thing, so let’s keep striving, and by and by I am sure we’ll be thriving.
In love and peace,
Amanda x