Please be mindful of the gap

A personal obsession with taking photos of fences

I’ve always enjoyed taking photographs.

I’d say ‘just for fun’ but it feels more therapy than fun. And as with writing, you create a very personal record of not only what you saw but also how it made you feel at the time.

You saw the light and shadow in a certain way that related to your own take on things.  Did you zoom out, zoom in, tower over, crouch? Why?

Over the last few years, I’ve found myself (weirdly?) drawn to taking pictures of fences.

At first I didn’t really understand why, I just figured I liked the geometry. But the more I thought about it, the more fences and railings seemed to represent oppression to me. 

The more trapped I felt personally, and certainly more so during government lockdowns, I would find myself standing in front of a fence and trying to gain some sort of clarity, literally looking for meaning and perspective in my own life via the barrier before me.

And the beautiful thing was……I found it.

Many times.

I saw magnificent sunsets and rises.

I saw the seasons change and flowers push themselves through the gaps.

I saw beyond the fence.

I saw old plants survive snow.

Returning to the same fences was particularly valuable to me.

Sometimes, the wire was stark and obvious, other times, the ‘bigger picture’ was so stunning and bright, you barely noticed an obstruction.

The lesson for me?

There is always light, hope and beauty to be found.

No matter how hemmed in we feel.

It’s all about whether you are focusing on the thing that sets you back, or the spaces in between.

Just look how the barbed wire holds the sun’s gold in its jaws here!

What do you notice?

As ever, it’s all in the framing.