I’ve been taking photographs, first as a hobby and more recently for work, for almost 10 years now. And in that time, I have failed to write a Bio, or coherently express what it is that makes me compelled to photograph so much of life. My own life, and the life of others.
But here I am now, about to put forward the driving force behind all that I do in this craft. And that reason is…
Death.
Now hold on, don’t leave just yet, I know that perhaps this wasn’t the answer you were expecting, but it’s not all doom and gloom. Hear me out.
I’ve thought about death, often, for as long as I can remember.
Remember those games we used to play in primary school where a friend would determine everything about your life, including the length of it, based on the delicate creases in the palms of your hands. Well, mine is sort of….
Short.
I’ve been obsessed with the thought of not living a long life, ever since.
Along with my ‘short life line’, around the time I entered high school I had begun to notice the vitreous in my eyes deteriorating, and I have continued to do so without concise, medical reason for the last two decades. My symptoms went hand in hand with the natural ageing process. Like going grey, or getting wrinkles. But I was yet to hit my teenage years.
For roughly seven years, I told nobody of the changes I was experiencing in my vision and in that time, the silence and deterioration manifested into health anxiety that plagued my life and mind for the next decade. I had convinced myself that the change in my vision without explanation, meant the deterioration of other aspects of my health.
Health anxiety is relentless.
Any trigger only confirmed I was destined to not live the long life I hoped for and Death was everywhere.
Always.
Now I’m sure you are wondering how any of this relates to the passion I have for my craft.
Well, when you think about death and the impermanence of life so often, you also think about what it all means.
And essentially what happens after our physical selves no longer exist.
I was raised by a family that believes in something beyond this life.
I know those beliefs bring comfort and meaning to every family member who believes them. We’re deeply complex and emotional beings.
My belief’s are perhaps, a little more simple.
I believe we are here, and then simply, we are not.
I believe there is meaning in that. I also believe that we must search deep within ourselves to find it.
“How shall we learn what it is our hearts believe in?’ Archibald MacLeish once asked.
For me, I’m learning through my camera.
The more I practice photography, it becomes clear to me that my camera (okay fine, camera’s, lot’s of them)… are tools that aid the understanding I have of myself, as I attempt to navigate this life in a way that is true to myself, and respectful and accepting of others.
I’m continuously fascinated by people and the ways in which they find their own purpose and meaning in this ever changing, unpredictable and fleeting life.
Daily, I enter peoples home’s and photograph them.
What a privilege to step into the mind’s and hearts of so many people. With every wall lined with the images of loved ones, Every shelf lined with books on philosophy, science and religion.
I can see it.
That search for meaning.
For something, anything that stretches beyond us.
Pressing that shutter. Assembling an archive of negatives which reflect everything that’s important to me, in the moment.
Questioning and challenging my own beliefs.
Ageing.
Growing.
Observing.
Always observing.
And giving all of it a physical form.
To see it, feel it, lose it, find it, feel it again.
For me, we need not a more important meaning than this.
———
My sight is both my biggest blessing and curse. A ratio I aim to emit through my lens.
Throughout this website I hope you’ll see the world, not only through my eyes, but through my heart and also my mind.
I hope that the contents within it, that mean so much to me.
Books that I have read. The people, places and moments that I’ve documented, also stir something in you.
It is said that people who photograph life often, miss out on being in the present.
With this, I wholeheartedly disagree.
Immersing myself in this craft enables me to live my life, past, present and future, with more mindfulness, empathy, and understanding than I would without it.
I am yet to find a greater companionship than the one I have with my camera.
Thank you for being here
Stace
