Santa Fe to me will always be a very special place as it is the place where I found enlightenment (which I explained a little about in my post yesterday). Santa Fe which was the place that Review Santa Fe was hosted is so special to me because it was a place that seemed to pick me out from nowhere!
Looking back at the 36 photographs which I took during the 40 minute lunch break on one of the 35mm film cameras which I used to take pictures to both clear my head and really absorb what I had experienced, I can see how my confidence was growing through these images which has surprised me and also made me really happy.
At some level I have known that the photographs I take come from within me. I know I take photographs as a way to express what I am thinking and how I am feeling. These emotions come out in what I see and whilst I always knew this at a subconscious level, somehow really realising this at a more deeper conscious level is something I see through these photographic images and that makes me happy. I am discovering and acknowledging the artistic me!
You see, the first day I arrived in Santa Fe was a free day to acclimatise before the Review itself started. Walking around the pretty centre however, I found it hard to find images that inspired me to take. I couldn't see past the few pictures of some of the lovely locals and film crew who were there that were filming a movie that I liked and got inspiration from. Whilst I was very happy at that at some level I was also frustrated at not being able to take any pictures of the place itself and that subconsciously made me feel like a fraud. That feeling was clearly why I couldn't take photographs of the historical centre of Santa Fe. I mean, here I was, apparently because I had demonstrated a talent in art and photography to get here, and I couldn't do something as basic as take photographs of a place that is renowned for being beautiful! It took me to go out to the mountains and to the Pueblo areas to find half of my artistic soul and photograph the beauty that was New Mexico, but these photographs I have not yet shared, nor the ones of the locals and film crew.
The other half I found when I met some of the Reviewers that I am so grateful to have met together with the other photographers that I am honoured to now call my friends that I recognised that I had found the other half of my creative soul, and looking at these pictures I can see that I had found the other missing half. Uploading them here I can see how I am feeling in these photographs and it is hopeful, centred, inspired and confident. I had found the beauty of an oasis in the desert, and I can see it in these pictures!
Hope you can see it too!
Oh, these are beautiful. There's definitely a strong "centered-ness" in this series, a rooted quality that feels strong and stable. Wonderful!! SO glad to hear you had a great time - you know I've been waiting to hear about this for a long time. ;)
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