Nothing brings home the beauty and power of the world that we live in like walking. Moving into our bodies, we embody the truth that as artists we are to make a ‘body of work’. Julia Cameron | juliacameronlive.com
A self-taught photographic artist, I have followed Cameron’s advice for several years now, walking — as often and as far as I can — mostly around and about my home in south-east Scotland (a small late-19th century cottage known as Foxfield) but sometimes further afield as well. This practice has become an intrinsic part of my identity — locally I have become known as susie-walker — and affords me a powerful connection to the countryside and community I inhabit.
The images I collect along the way are often representational, a visual attempt to capture the essence of the interaction I experience on each journey, whether that is with the landscape itself or a person or animal I encounter. I am drawn to the abstract — shape, texture, colour, light, shadow — and the potential these offer for seeing beyond the obvious into the deeper patterns and rhythms that form in the world around us. My images remain unedited and unfiltered – the complexities of photoshop elude me – and I am more than rewarded by the honesty and integrity of the ones that I choose to keep.
The words are a more recent addition; a newly found creative vein, a desire to express the feelings I experience as I walk, daily and as part of the broader patterns that make up my life’s journey.
