Starting Landscape

I began this blog without having registered for a class, waiting for results from P&P before making a decision about whether to continue to Level 2 studies. I’m not sure what waiting will accomplish, but I have felt some concern about whether an academic approach to photography is a path I wish to continue walking. The academic investigation of art feels somewhat forced. There doesn’t appear to be much beneath the surface beyond opinion. The writing is often opaque, even pretentious, and the discussions seem to lead back to little more than personal taste. There is also the issue of whether we’ll remain in Dubai for another year and the cost-benefit calculation of registering for another course that will be interrupted by a move to a new country and a new job. None of those issues has yet been resolved, but it seems I may need a practice of some kind to keep me anchored. Part of not becoming anxious about the future is being absorbed in the present. So why not photography, especially as I am engaged in continuing personal practice? I thought to start with Documentary, but reading Bate and looking at my recent work it seems Landscape might be a better fit. Having just finished a year-long anthropology project for a Masters in Buddhist Studies, I’m not terribly eager to get involved again so soon with another community. Right now I like the work I’m doing because it involves exploration, bicycling through the city’s neighborhoods to document the usual and unusual, without having to befriend anyone or take anyone along with me. I’ve downloaded the sample Landscape course materials from the OCA website, which amounts to the Introduction and Part One, and made a start on the course without registering. Once Mutsumi and I make a decision about Dubai, and my grade for P&P comes in, I’ll make a decision about registering. In the meantime, there’s no reason I can’t get a head start.

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