// Edition 018. Resolute
// Edition 018. Resolute
Leaning into the new year; Paris pictures exhibition and endnotes.
Resolute
Thank you for reading. A few of you sent messages to say that you appreciated me listing the good things that happened last year and noted it is important to take stock of our achievements. I agree. It is all too easy to focus on the things that didn’t happen or that went wrong, instead of the things that went well. Take a breath, think about the good things, list them. Do it each month, week, day. Make a ‘Ta-dah’ list not a ‘To-Do’ list (hat tip to Melissa Lyttle for spotting that). Doing this makes you appreciate the good things even more, but also makes you stronger for when it doesn’t go your way. Speaking of which…
Amy Romer recently tweeted out a question she had been asked about bravery.
I had some brief thoughts in response.
This year I’m also trying to lean into things that make me uncomfortable. Anxiety or discomfort are natural reactions to situations that might induce nervousness, fear or apprehension. I’m using this to work through what it is that makes me feel that way. Usually it’s because I’m unsure of myself, or don’t feel I have the required attributes to get through the situation or task. Understanding that helps me work out what it is I can do to change that.
And when I find myself ‘sitting on the fence’ I’m challenging myself to remove those splinters in my bum and get off. Even if that means making mistakes. It helps that when I find myself doing this I think of Alexander Hamilton pointedly exposing Aaron Burr’s equivocation in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical ‘Hamilton’:
“If you stand for nothing Burr, what do you fall for?”
What makes you uncomfortable? How do you find strength, bravery or resolution?
Let me know in the comments or by email.
Towards the end of last year I finished editing and printing a set of photographs that will go on display in a local coffee shop, Barista Lounge. They will replace the set of eight I have up in the café currently. The owner favours classic black and white photographs and the shop itself has a similar decor, with mid-to-dark wooden accents. Given this I thought some of my black and white photographs from Paris would work well. The owner agreed.
I then had to sit down and decide on which ones from the Paris set would make the cut. The first step was to consider my audience; the café customers.
I have a number of photographs from two trips to Paris, separated by ten years. Not all would be suitable. You may remember that last year I put together a set of diptychs with my son for Surrey Artist Open Studios. I think some of them are actually quite jarring, like a pair containing this photograph of an anti-COVID vaccine sticker styled like the Nazi SS insignia and found just on the edge of Pletzl, the Jewish Quarter in Le Marais.
Part of me thinks it would be good to have them up in the coffee shop, to challenge viewers with something different. In the end, though, I’ve decided to go with the pictures of the café and tourist culture in Paris. I think these will suit the space well.
Now that those images are ready to by hung, I am going back to reedit the pictures for a zine that will complement the pictures on the wall. This is where I think I can bring in the more challenging, different pictures of Paris. My hope is that the pictures on the wall will act as a gateway to open up a conversation with those in the zine.
I’ll let you know here when the pictures have been hung and that zine is off to the printers.
In the meantime, one of the best ways to support my work is to subscribe or forward this newsletter on to someone who you think would enjoy subscribing to it. Just press the buttons below:
// Notes from The Singing Hills
In looking through the images of the people and places I have photographed in the USA I’ve been able to discover what I need to photograph in North Wales to compliment them. I’ve drawn up a list of people, places and themes to explore and it is those images I will be focusing on making this year. I’m now planning the first trip back up to North Wales to do this.
// Endnotes
I still can’t stop thinking about Jodie Comer’s performances in Prima Facie (coming to Broadway this spring) and Help. I would love to collaborate on a portrait or series of photographs with her.
I finished re-reading Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy after the release of the third series of the BBC TV adaptation. It’s fascinating to explore this world and his ideas in both forms.
The last book I read prior to that, at the end of last year, was Lanny, by Max Porter. It is the most original, compelling book I have read in years. A quick story. I was in a bookshop late last year and bumped into a friend. She was looking for a book for a present and asked what was the best thing I'd read lately. I said “Lanny by Max Porter” and 2-3 other people turned and simultaneously said "It's so good”. It led into a protracted conversation about the book and Max Porter's work. That's never happened in a bookshop to me before.
I’m currently reading Isabella Tree’s memoir Wilding, which is about restoring nature and wildland to the Knepp Estate in West Sussex. It’s leading me down more interesting rabbit holes about land, nature, wildness and our constant need to try and tame it. Lots more books have ended up on my reading list because of it and in my internet travels I’ve come across a similar place New Zealand, Tahi Estate and Nature Reserve.
Seeing and listening to Lauren Housley and Nigel Wearne at the West End Centre earlier in January has sent me on a folk, bluegrass and soul kick. I’m now really enjoying Katherine Priddy and Sweden band First Aid Kit.
Thank you for reading The [ED]it, I hope you enjoyed it, please do forward this on to anyone else you think might enjoy it. If you have questions, comments, ideas, projects, sponsorship or anything else stimulated by this edition, you can reply to this email, or get in touch by leaving your thoughts in the comments or contacting me via email at edbrydon@gmail.com
Take care,
Ed
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About me:
I am a photographer and writer available for commissions based near Farnham, Surrey, in south-east England, just 45 minutes from London. I also regularly work in North Wales.
My more recent work explores personal connections to place, the land and natural environment, how each of those, and the connections between them, are changing.
In 2017 my ongoing project on people of North Welsh heritage in the northeast US was exhibited at Northern Eye Festival. I was subsequently awarded a commission from the Welsh Parliament in 2019 to make new work for exhibition around Wales in 2019-20.
You can find out more on my website here.
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