Categories
Photography street photography

SOLO~ The Art of Being Alone

week 2 of presale for the book has started!
Book Cover

Hi everyone,

I have been gone from here a while and daily blog project paused because of many changes happening all at once in my world as they often do in people’s worlds. As I am mostly a very private person, I will remain vague about these upheavals.

At the start of this month, a magical project turned up when I was approached by a book publisher here in Duesseldorf with the option of creating my first photography book based on the recent work I have been sharing. Naturally I was thrilled as I do love photography books and I was not sure where to start with producing mine.

To keep a long story inside a single paragraph: I met the team, they are amazing, the title appeared, I received a huge amount of support from my friends, family, fellow artist and fans, and here we are in week 2 of the pre-sale of the book, which is already a go!

The pre-sale copies will be signed and will include a small surprise with them as thanks to those amazing people who are allowing the book to exist. It will be a 168 page hard cover book printed on beautiful quality paper and containing 160 images from this theme.

Thank you Snap Collective Publishing for this adventure and thank you all for supporting my work.

Copies can be ordered Here!

Categories
contemplations Germany morning coffee talk Photography street photography war

Daily Coffee Talk~ 86/365

Have you every had the feeling that even when you are alone, you are really not?

In my mind, there is never a dull moment. Thoughts, ponders, queries, hopes, questions, memories, investigations, plans, connecting of dots, and yes, sometimes fears and worries.

I am finding it difficult to not be concerned about what is happening around me in Europe. How can anyone not be? But why are we feeling the pain of others so much more acutely? Has something changed in the conductivity of the world?

It is quite unfathomable what humans are capable of doing to other humans in the search of their own self glory and greedy agendas.

So myself is telling me today to keep going, to keep hoping, to continue sending strength and good thoughts toward the innocent people caught up in this crazy war and to know that there is always light behind the darkness.

Categories
LEBANON Photography street

Being Alone Together~ 2

The Future is not written till we write it~ Byblos, Lebanon

This image illustrates to me the basic reality that we find ourselves living in: that life is a journey and our tomorrows are dependent on every action we take and every step we make. To author one’s destiny is a huge responsibility that most of us abdicate from. ‘Choice’ remains our greatest gift whether we see it or not.

Categories
Germany Photography street photography

Monophobia~

The fear of being alone~ we all have it to some extent, the great anxiety that we will have no one to share our moments with, good or bad, the whole time forgetting that we are born alone and we die alone.

Maybe we should take a moment everyday to enjoy, value and make use of our own company, learning to meet and know ourselves a little better.

I once practiced a month of silence and discovered among many things that there was so much to be learned inside of the human complex I learned to call ”me”.

Categories
art inspiration Photography

Alone Together~

When I examine my days carefully, looking for moments of peace, of clarity, of calm and reflective processes, I realize that almost always, these are moments of being alone. I remember in my early twenties when I went to India for the first time and tried out a month long silence, the most surprising result of that was the realization that we are never really alone. So much goes on in our minds and faculty when we are alone, that we find ourselves able to understand ourselves so much better and to stand under the reality of our situation at any given moment. A day spent without any ‘me’ time is a day not enjoyed fully. I do not exaggerate when I say that I rarely ever feel lonely when I am alone. There is a huge difference between the 2 states. What is loneliness really? Could it be the fear of getting to know ourselves? I love my own company and have loved it since I was a young child. This makes me value time with others in a different way and in turn makes me more selective of who I share time with. It is such a valuable commodity in a most certainly mortal life.

daily posts on my INSTAGRAM page

Categories
art CHINA contemplations Photography shanghai

We are born alone~

we are born alone
and till the end we walk alone

Alone (O-Lane), the planetary lane, the way of the planet, how we are born and how we die. These truths are what make human connections we build while alive so utterly important, otherwise life would be nothing but a long cold walk. Our friends make it warmer, infuse it with joy, with pain, with sadness, with passion, with challenges, with drama and most importantly with companionship along the way.

Categories
contemplations inspiration Paris Photography street Travel

When magic meets us

magic likes to meet us when we walk alone
magic likes to meet us when we walk alone~ River Seine~ Paris

Does it ever happen to you that something so special joins you when you are alone; a spark of revelation; a moment of clarity; something that makes you want to jump up and down in glee, and you might even do just that? I find that when that happens, it mostly does when I walk alone. Maybe when we walk alone we invite into us what wants to give us clarity, and maybe at other times, we are too busy and crowded to hear it. As long as I can be with inspiration, boredom will never meet me, they seem to live in different essence realms.

Categories
contemplations old age old people Paris Photography street Travel

A cold world is not for me

man at bus stop~ Paris
man at bus stop~ Paris

A warm world is where I want to be, where smiles animate the stiffest of faces, where hugs disarm the most guarded of people, where trust draws out trust, and where no one will find themselves with no one to turn to on a chilly day.

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Boracay inspiration life story

Day 14~ August 14th~ Boracay

alone

Being alone in our world today is a luxury that my soul yearns for everyday. There are so many parts of ourselves that need us to check in with them that not doing so can cause so much undue stress. The alone moments I take for myself everyday cause such a great sigh of relief in me and I walk away from my time alone with a renewed sense of purpose and inspiration. I remember taking long trips to places like India to be alone in my early twenties and returning with a sense of calm that is not possible to attain in any other way than self reflection. I wonder if this is how a sailor might feel.

photo taken: a lone boat on the shores of Boracay~ philippines

Categories
inspiration life Photography street Vietnam

Day 27~ July 27th~ Vietnam

individualism

To feel alone in the midst of millions…