A few straightforward photographs, taken over the last couple of days. Sensing a chill, and knowing that snow was forecast, I purposely wrenched myself from the relative comfort of home into the real environment…
the day before the snow came; fresh, crisp, chilled air…
about 3.30pm, as the sun lowered…
a found drawing; the footprints of a bird perfectly match the tracks of a vehicle…
a hedgerow of ferns and grasses…
field stubble….
What I find most interesting in this light frosting of snow is how it blurs the boundaries of property, the shape of the land is more pronounced, the tracks and traces of nature and man more evident. Light is more reflected, the simple hedgerow, scrub and stubble of fields reveal the subtle array of natural born colours: russet, soft putty, straw, mustard, copper, dark chocolate, amber, khaki, moss… This has led me to explore more the condition of synesthesia, where the wiring of the senses get slightly crossed, colours are tasted, textures are heard, shapes make noise. Could I, in some small way, be a synesthete or do I just attach symbolic or associated meanings to the appearance of things?
Shapes and forms don’t necessarily make sounds of course, but my interest in them is nearly always different to their reality; the juxtapositions and contrasts make discordant noises, they pulsate with hidden activity, the fierce bubbling of rust, the loud raspings of metal on metal, the crackle of old wood, the stringy toffee of dried grasses, the liquorice of freshly ploughed soil… or maybe I’ve read one too many Dulux colour charts….
