The Dark Mind
Modern Pictorial Photography by L. J. Blanksma
"Singularities, Contradiction, Isolation and Betrayal - These are the things that stare back at me."
What do you see and why? The basis of most photographs is to document what we see, or rather, in the case of pictorialism, our interpretation of what we see. And, if you are like me, this is where it gets very interesting. Our minds do a lot of “filling in the blanks” in order to define the world around us. Our vision of reality differs based on a culmination of life experiences, belief systems, and emotional states. Do you see a farm animal or a beautiful creature caught in a moment of reflection? Peering down at your bowl of soup, is it the face of a devil or a happy clown that occasionally stares back at you?
For me, it’s rarely a happy clown. For me, it’s a constant struggle to see the beauty through all the bad. There is a certain darkness that looms in my mind that co-exists with a burning desire to capture the intrinsic beauty of life. Do you feel this pendulum swing within your own mind? No matter what level of mental flexure we each experience, we are all searching for insight as to who we are and how we arrived at this very moment.
My life long internal struggle put a camera in my hand with an expedition in mind. I wanted to find those hidden, dark recesses and force them out into the light. I wanted to pick apart the bad and discover the good. In short, I was setting out to perform an exorcism and while doing so, discovered a repeating theme which eventually turned into a stronghold - Perception shapes reality - An unexpected, yet simple circular loop that resolves back to the original question. What do you see and why?
