Art at a time of Upheaval

If you are a creative person, there comes a time when your creative pursuit takes a back seat. That doesn’t mean you give up but it isn’t your top priority. Life has a habit of carrying on whilst you are moving house/getting married/have building work/preparing for Christmas and so on. You see those you admire creatively, continue to produce work while you are going in all directions to keep whatever life event on track.

You realise that you can’t devote as much of this precious time to your primary creative love. You keep your hand in by going out and in my case, taking photographs, some more successful than others; but you don’t necessarily have the life space to embark on a new project. Well if any of that sounds familiar, I share your frustration/situation. My wife and I have had quite a three months. We’ve moved house, embarked on building work and renovation, managed to get married (finally!) and all this leading up to the usual seasonal mayhem that is Christmas. Most days for me have been a process of keeping up with changing events and taking photographs has been the thing I've done in between.

I don’t always handle stress very well. It gets its claws in me and I can’t struggle free. Kate is very good at encouraging me to step away from the stress as she is a professional artist and designer with a long successful career, so knows how stress can disrupt the creative flow. Now this doesn’t only apply to creative professions, it affects all of us. Some people are so single minded, they can block out external stress, compartmentalise their lives to such an extent that all aspects carry on simultaneously. I have never met someone who can manage to do this without others around them suffering but if you are that person, please get in touch and tell me your secret.

I tell myself that we don’t have to rush with the house. This is our house and will be for the foreseeable future so we can make it the one we really want. Christmas happens every year and I have experienced a lot of every years on account of being not young. It feels a bit like winding up a jack in the box or playing Buckaroo. You know at some point it’s all going to explode, burst out, or simply happen. we will be also welcoming two new additions to the Linney household in the shape of two young cats. Our two 16 year old cats have died since we moved house and it seems a strangely empty place without our little fur balls wandering around. The two new girls are between 6 and 12 months old, far more lively, playful and I suspect curious. Their arrival is very much anticipated and it will be lovely to have them but it’s bit like sprinkling a bit of chilli on an otherwise mellow pasta dish. My metaphors are getting worse so maybe I should just sign off? I wish you all a very enjoyable,peaceful happy Christmas and keep in touch as hopefully, exciting creative things will be happening in 2026.

A photography hero passed away this week and I couldn’t sign off without mentioning probably my greatest photographic inspirations, Martin Parr. He was a fabulous photographer with an eye for the human in humanity. He shone a light at our culture, brought joy to photography and encouraged so many other photographers to go out and pursue their dreams.

Rest in peace Martin 1952-2025.