The Environmental Divorcee

One of the curious things about photography is how so many of us love the stuff the toys the cameras more than we love the end result.

Far too many people seem to know a lot about the “best” rather than trying, being their best.  I’ve spent a lot of time using the best gear that I can afford the reality is, it’s built to last longer, hopefully be easy to use, and it should work day in day out in tough environments without complaint. The reality is the best camera’s  don’t take better pictures often, at all, ever, that’s my job they just ease the way toward the end product by simply doing what you need of them. I choose my cameras to suit me not the other way. A while back I changed to a different camera brand after being utterly frustrated by the system I was using, it was like an annoying relationship where one partner wouldn’t listen and kept imposing its will, not much fun, a technology divorce ensued and now I’m a happy camper really happy.

More than ever I’m convinced the relationship we have with stuff place life matters, all the cool clever advertisements,  aspiration invisibles just don’t matter, if it’s not a meeting of relative  relational equals...  give half your stuff away now, cause it’s just going to cost more later...

I’m finishing up a book on the Manawatu with a friend,a writer.  The reason why we did it was to quiet a little if this is at all possible, those Manawatu divorcees, those incessant babblers in newspaper magazine columns on TV and even those who live here who have nothing good to say about our place, but haven’t the will to leave and will not see to stay and hopefully, hopefully to inspire us who do.

The Manawatu is beautiful, and we are a cool bunch of people quirky some overly serious daft fun “normal” we are just typical New Zealanders.  Over time we cut the bush, grassed and fenced, built, made roads settled, and without realizing the landscape quietly inhabits us.  I love coming home seeing the line of Manawatu Gorge V’d into the ranges marking the, “we are there now”, walking out my backdoor on a clear night and seeing the Southern cross, The iced dawns of winter the winds that clear our dust from the sky, the endless rich colours of dawn and dusk the acres of towering clouds being held up by high earth, the patterns left by smoothed fenced land etc...

I’m always left wondering about those who love their cameras more than the purpose those who love technology more than the relationship, the instant hit over wonder, place over life, I get the feeling it’s all easy to end up an environmental divorcee, all too easy to leave home without moving and to move on unable to stop kicking back.