Equivalence

Minor White (Photographer) said:

 'be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence.'

I've been reading his journal on Equivalence written in 1963 and have found in him a kindred spirit. I have been looking back on the work I have done over the past year at college and recognise that my style of photography is that of 'Equivalence'

When I photograph a place or an object I use it as a metaphor for something else, and that something else is usually a feeling or an emotion. Its a meditative state I think, that when I take a picture, for example a door or a window, that door to me has a meaning....to walk through it and make a discovery whether that is a physical discovery or a mental discovery. The door leads somewhere, I dont know where, I just know that it does.

When I visited the Art Galleries in London last year, I saw Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings and painting for the first time. My response was an emotional one, it was visceral and not intellectual. I could 'feel' his struggle to create perfection and on some level I recognised in me the struggle I go through to try and reach perfection. It is very unlikely that I will reach that height because I am not a genius, but I strive for it and thats what made me respond the way I did. 

It was also the fact that I was in the presence of a master of his art and that made me feel so privileged .....to view the work of a master is nothing less than that, a rare privilege. 

So I have discovered my 'style' of photography and now that I know what it is and that it has a name I can develop it further.