Tuesday, 31st
July, 2012
On Anticipation
As de Botton states often the reality of
travel is not what we anticipated.
What am I anticipating; rain,
clean waves, empty line-ups? I guess all of those things and more. Mostly I’m
anticipating big waves, waves that will push me and probably waves that will
keep me from getting wet.
When surfing on your own in a
strange and unfamiliar environment your biggest hurdle can often be yourself.
With someone to share the experience your confidence can be raised. Paddling
out with someone who is better than you can also help strengthen your desire to
ride bigger and better waves as paddling out to Dracula’s in Morocco with Ch
proved. Although it scared the hell out of me and after a few heavy nailings I
clambered back over the sharp jagged rocks happy to be back on terra firma.
M King "Dracula’s, Morocco"
January 2007
If we believe the pessimism
of Huymann’s des Esseintes then reality will always be disappointing. So to
take a tip from be Botton expect reality to be different rather than
disappointing. I do expect rain though.
My idea of Ireland has principally been formed from
pictures in surf mags, the film’s Litmus and
The Far Shore and Cotty’s recent
escapades in Mullaghmore, County
Sligo. I have also read
that the Irish are an open and friendly folk always up for the craic.
Such a notion contradicts the
Greek geographer, historian and philosopher Strabo’s (b.c 63 BC, d. after AD
21) belief that Ireland’s “inhabitants are more savage than the Britons, since
they are man-eaters as well as heavy eaters, and since, further, they count it
an honourable thing, when their fathers die, to devour them, and openly to have
intercourse, not only with the other woman, but also with their mothers and
sisters………” (1986. Newby. P. 196)
Before experiencing Ireland I have
been reflecting on my photography thinking; what is the point, why am I doing
this, who is it for? All these questions relate to the overriding question I am
continuing ask myself – what is art? I know I need a reason to do it other than
for its own sake but it does need a purpose, a reason why. Or does it?
I know I do not want to
produce a travel book because they are often idealised and romanticised just as
much as art can be selected (mis)representation. Everything I work against.
Be honest.
As de Botton illustrates in
his journey through the afternoon, the travel book can be a deceptive beast.
Every second of existence is an experience, unique to every individual and I
don’t want to over subscribe to explanation and in depth detail as Tolstoy
expressed in his book “What Is Art?”
So what am I hoping to convey?
Why take pictures? Why make pictures?
The surf breaks to me are a
kind of pilgrimage much like the ones I discovered on my travels through Europe
and into Morocco.
The surf guide, much like the original travel guides highlights much of what is
in and around a break for the travelling pilgrim. When it is best to surf, what
to be aware of, what entertainment is available.
In anticipation we simplify
and we select, much the way as memory recalls the past. Being in Ireland is
unique to me, unique to Caroline and even unique to Henry (my dog) but between
the 3 of us we will hold shared experiences which through simplification and
selection will help form our memories. I’m not sure about Henry but for me and
Caroline this is true.
So why make pictures?
Pictures are more than
holiday snaps for me or are they? Are they not technically and compositionally
just good holiday snaps? Education has enabled me to construct more intelligent
imagery but what am I to say?
I know what I want people to
take away from my photographs but will I succeed?
Whatever I bring back in
terms of photographs, memories or souvenirs, this trip is my pilgrimage to the
Emerald Isle.
A pilgrimage? What is a
pilgrimage? Is it a pilgrimage or is that my studies and preferred reading constructing
meaning and reason?
The journey it would seem is
more about the “I”, the conscious part of my self. Whatever the I focuses on
appears to lead the self. I could feel tired and bored, as I did briefly
earlier but then I used the time to read, to write, to think. I also feel
bloated and uncomfortable after lunch which if felt in other circumstances
other than work could spoil a perfectly delightful occasion such as tea with
the Queen.
In Huysmann’s words, Des
Esseintes believed “the imagination could provide a more-than-adequate
substitute for the vulgar reality of actual experience”. (2003. de Botton. P.
27) Similarly de botton states that actual experience “where what we have come
to see is always diluted in what we could see anywhere, where we are drawn away
from the present by an anxious future and where our appreciation of aesthetic
elements remains at the mercy of perplexing physical and psychological
demands”. (2003. de Botton. P.27) Whilst much of this may be true I still look
forward to visiting Ireland
and enjoying the craic.
One of my over-riding
feelings in regards to travelling is one of ambivalence and it is this I feel I
must overcome. Caroline is a positive step forward in that her enthusiasm
carries me with it.
Bibliography
C Cotton, 2007 The Photograph As Contemporary Art Thames
& Hudson: London
De Botton, 2003 The Art of Travel Penguin:London
E Newby, 1995 A Book of Travellers’ Tales Pan Books
Ltd: London
Tolstoy L, 1969 What Is
Art? And Essays on Art London: University Press Oxford
Copyright Mark King 2012
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