It’s hard to be a saint in the city..

It’s probably self evident from this blog that photography is one of the ways a try to “see” the world around me. Sometimes the subject reveals itself almost by accident. I have my camera, I experience something which stirs my imagination, and I’m moved to press the shutter. At other times, there is a degree of planning involved. Sometimes self-directed, and at other times driven by external demands such as in the past a course requirement. In any event, the photographs that emerge are, I hope indicative of some kind of “connection” with the world that I inhabit.

Small World: Image copyright John Callaway (2009)

Inevitably the images produced are invested with a degree of “self expression”. But I don’t see this as indicative of “…becom(ing) disconnected from the natural world, from living communities and from life itself” (Satish Kumar, in an article entitled “Art For Earth’s Sake” in Resurgence No 257;Nov/Dec 2009:pp 46-48). Despite being a subscriber to Resurgence I’m struggling to “subscribe” to what I think is a somewhat simplistic view. My photograph’s please me, but of course I would like other people to view them. So I post here, and have a web site that brings in a limited amount of traffic, and the (very) occasional sale. Kumar references the work of Susan Derges, (which is stunning) as indicative of “a paradigm shift from ‘ego art’ to ‘eco art'”. I fear I may be guilty of practicing “ego art”, but I’d like to think that I’m not that disconnected…

…and the photograph above. Click here for the whys and wherefores.