Sunday 9 March 2014

Loch Ainort, Skye

Loch Ainort, Skye by James_at_Slack
Loch Ainort, Skye, a photo by James_at_Slack on Flickr.
When I first heard about Flickr I thought it was a great way to allow friends and family to see some holiday snaps. So I joined - in Novemebr 2005! How time flies.

Then, I just saw it as a place to store photos as I slowly worked my way back into taking photos. There was a long gap in my life when photography played no part. Let me explain.

I got interested in taking photos during Wednesday leisure afternoons in secondary school. So I reckon I was about 14 or 15. I remember one art teacher in particular who was so surprised and pleased when he saw my abstract images that he called all the other art teachers into the room to see them.

That one moment when I felt I had done something that others had liked, others that I had respect for, has stayed with me. I wanted to learn more about photography and get better at it.

But sadly, finding work, starting a career, gaining qualifications, buying property, getting married and generally finding my way in the world, saw photography take a back seat.

It was after seeing a Diane Arbus exhibition in Barcelona and the increasing availability of digital photography that got me back into taking pictures. Flickr was just a perfect place to put my pictures but also to get in touch with other photographers.

Sadly, since Flickr was bought over by Yahoo recently it has become almost unusable if your broadband connection isn't top notch. I still use it though and have a wee look at any activity on my photostream.

Today, for reasons that are never clear, the above image of Loch Ainort, Skye, taken back in 2009, is getting a bit of traffic.

I doubt I would take an image like that today. There is nothing majorly wrong with it (technically flawed and harsh light) but some other images in my photostream are very bad. I have given some thought to clearing out the duds from my 'stream but decided not to because there is a history there, a story of me and aspects of my life. Some truly awful images can somehow bring pleasure to some people like this one, so to hell with it I say. This was what my photography was like and if that disappoints some or think I'm foolish to leave bad images up on line, too bad.

I'd be interested to hear of anybody who has actually decided to clear out their photostream and why.

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