Beyond the facade of routine and the predictable, lies a rich country full of wonders just waiting to be explored. My writing and photography seek to grant access to that magical world.
Skimming the surface
Much of our view of the world is impoverished. We skim the surface, our senses passing over unseen riches as we rely heavily on repetition and routine to steer us through daily life. Doing so makes sense. We can go about our business without constantly being waylaid by extraneous distractions. We even actively banish that which is strange or different, intuitively fearing it might dislodge us from the safe trudge of our daily sleep-walking.
The inherent magic of the world
If we don’t want to completely miss out on the magic that surrounds us, we need to take time to observe the world more closely, in particular questioning that which we take for granted. In so doing, we can reconnect to the surprise and joy of the unexpected and the inherent ‘magic’ in the world, unlocking possible solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. It is in these chinks in the apparently impenetrable facade of daily reality that access to the ‘fantastic’ lies.
Writing as access to the unexplored
This approach of looking under stones and in dark corners, of peering into the mist or listening to the wind in the rushes, of moving nose first against the wind or burying our face in a freshly washed towel, underlies not only my novel writing, but also my work with photography. I seek to offer breaches through which you can step into the unknown and unexplored like in the following experience of Vint in a short extract from my novel Bursting with Life.
Extract: Bursting with Life
(…) Vint hesitated at the door to the lift. He dreaded confined spaces but his meeting was under the rafters on the fifth floor and he couldn’t face the stairwell. Last time he’d dared go that way the stairs had taken umbrage and tossed him back down. He’d been lucky not to break his neck.
The door let out a tired groan as it shuddered open. You’d have thought it was unwilling to let him in. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure no one was hard on his heels, he closed his eyes and stepped inside. He heard the door slide shut and blindly fumbled for the buttons, pressing the uppermost one. Bracing himself for the shudder as the lift began to rise, he cracked open his eyes and scanned the lift.
He shrieked or would have, had he not stuffed a fist in his mouth to stifle his cry. There, sitting cross legged on the floor surrounded by swirls of black lace over frayed jeans and a black bodice strapped tight with leather thongs, sat a girl. Her bright blue eyes sparkled as she grinned at him.
For more about Bursting with Life click here.