Iago, Study from an Italian, Julia Margaret Cameron, 1867
What are your dreams for your self and your life? If you can't think of any, just think back for one moment to when you were a child. Children are full of fantastic imaginings and exciting dreams which they are convinced are going to come true! They haven't yet learned to censor themselves or preclude the infinite possibilities that are open to them. They are full of hope, innocence and creativity, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
The photograph above is one of my all time favourite images. I used to work as a photographer and while I was at college studying photography, I learned about a photographer called Julia Margaret Cameron. I was really drawn to her style. I feel something when I look at her images, something that I can't quite explain or articulate even now but I can best describe her work as beautiful and ethereal. For me the essence and meaning is akin to the poetry of Rumi or Teresa of Avila.
Julia is quoted as saying "I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied." I love what she accomplished, she took up photography in her late forties in the 1800s. Her work shows, in my opinion, that she was obviously following her passion and dreams. She became a photographer at an age that, today, in age obsessed 2009, may be viewed as 'too old' and at a time when many things, including photography, were considered only for men. I believe it is never too late to do what you want to be or do, what you are drawn to be or do. You are much more than your age, your gender, your weight, your situation. By birthright we are all a part of the energy of creativity and beauty just because of our existence. Just because we are. Isn't that a good enough reason to do what we love?
Julia is quoted as saying "I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied." I love what she accomplished, she took up photography in her late forties in the 1800s. Her work shows, in my opinion, that she was obviously following her passion and dreams. She became a photographer at an age that, today, in age obsessed 2009, may be viewed as 'too old' and at a time when many things, including photography, were considered only for men. I believe it is never too late to do what you want to be or do, what you are drawn to be or do. You are much more than your age, your gender, your weight, your situation. By birthright we are all a part of the energy of creativity and beauty just because of our existence. Just because we are. Isn't that a good enough reason to do what we love?
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