PhotoBath welcomed Ben, a long time friend of the group, past collaborator and contributor to discuss his own work and current photography project.
He said it was unusual for him to have the opportunity to elaborate on his own work as so often, in his professional capacity as the editor of Digital Camera Magazine, produced in Bath by Future Publishing, he is promoting the work of others.
He has a wide knowledge of, and contact with many distinguished photographers working in the country and also has given editorial tutorials on many photography techniques and features which appear in the magazine.
In his talk to PhotoBath, he was able to concentrate on his own creativity and his personal search for the threads of meaning and coherence under vague notions of myth from the reality of the everyday local landscape and connecting that with photographs he took during visits to Greece. River reflections, foliage and a frog in a bucket are recorded, printed and pinned to his studio wall as he grapples with the connections, contexts and aesthetic resonances.
At its heart, his discussion examined the essence of the creative endeavour; groping in a void of selected photographs and vague interconnected interpretations without knowing the outcome or future direction of the pursuit. There would be a haunting possibility that the project may indeed be futile without a tangibly resolved conclusion, were it not for an in-built confidence that it’s worth investigating.
This was work in progress with many unanswered questions posed by a photographer sharing with us his current examples and potential pieces of a puzzle as yet unresolved into a final composition.
This was a refreshing talk which teaches us that we don’t have to know the outcomes with our photography, or any creative undertaking. The raw investigation and the search for meaning and context is where true creativity reside.
Photo credit: Mike Horrocks
