Weekly Photo Challenge: Express Yourself

This week’s challenge on The Daily Post was to post something to “Express Yourself” – I must admit to being totally stumped with how to approach this.  As a photographer I tend to enjoy hiding in the shadows, exploring the world through the lens of my camera.  This allows me a certain level of anonymity, and a way of hiding from exposure.

Stillness amongst the chaos. If you sit somewhere long enough and just watch, things will happen. This is from a laneway in Melbourne, Australia. People hurrying about their lives and me just hiding in a corner recording it.

So in answering this weeks challenge I looked at why I take photographs; I know this is a travel blog, but I am first a photographer.  I love to spend time in a place, really sit and enjoy it.  If you sit long enough things will appear before your eyes.

Photography is not about rushing through every place on your tour itinerary and checking it off like a shopping list.  Not all of us have the time nor ability to dedicate 3 months camped out on the Nepalese mountains waiting for that one defining moment of our photographic careers – when the light strikes the mountain “just right” – sadly most of us have ordinary day jobs and credit cards.  But that said there is always the ability to sit a while and just be present in a location.

I have been a photographer now for about 15 years but I still can’t tell you my STYLE.  I was asked many years before by a photography lecturer why I took a particular photo – my answer: cause I liked it and thought I could make money from it! *Apparently not the right answer to give an Art Professor*

Explore your own city as though you are a tourist. We become deaf to our own cities – they become too boring to entertain us. Before you see the world I say make sure to see some of your own backyard.

So how do I express myself?  Well not through my words – if this rambling post is anything to go by.  For me I guess I would qualify it by saying I always look to find the unusual amongst the ordinary.  Walking through the temples of Ayutthaya in Thailand and I stop along the path to photograph a Frangipani flower.  That is the best way I can say that I express myself.

Always be on the lookout for something that catches your eye. Try to not be blind to what is right in front of you.

Technically not a particularly strong photograph – but what it represents always makes me laugh.  Our travel companions were trying to work out what I was photographing, given all the lovely old temples around me.  These are the things I always try to find in a place looking for something different to make an interesting picture.   Why? Because I like to.

Thanks for reading – would love to know what inspires you, what image would you use to express yourself?  Head over to The Daily Post – And take up the challenge yourself.