City Blues | Weekly Photo #34
I took this photo a few days ago on “Blue Monday”. I don’t normally rush photos out so quickly. I like to live with them a little longer before I publish as I will sometimes bring it back into the digital darkroom to make some further adjustments but this week is different. I chose to release this photo as I felt it suits the subject of this post quite well.
Blue Monday is according to some, the most depressing day of the year. Christmas is behind us, the nights are long and credit card bills for money spent over the festive period are in. Do I think Blue Monday is a thing? If being honest, I’m pretty sceptical. I don’t think people are struggling on this particular day per se but rather, I think there are people battling “The Blues” every single day of the year. I do, however, appreciate that at the very least, it helps raise more awareness of such an important subject.
The benefits of personal creative projects
A while back, I wrote an article called “Mental Health and Why Photography Matters” where I talked about how having a creative outlet can have a positive effect on your mental wellbeing as it provides you with the motivation and purpose to push forward and create something meaningful and fulfilling to you.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mmF2.8 | 16mm | 2.6 Seconds | f/10 | ISO160
Currently, much of my motivation to get up and out to take photos comes from this Weekly Photo project. I don’t necessarily consider this a project in the strictest of terms but it is what currently drives me to take photos and write articles. For a lot of landscape photographers, producing 52 share-worthy photos over the course of a year is a difficult undertaking and I’m certainly no exception.
To quote Ansel Adams:
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.
As much as I would like it to be so, unfortunately not every photo I share each week can be considered “portfolio-worthy” but that’s not really the primary goal of the project. The goal of this project is to provide the motivation I need to get out into the world, regardless of the conditions, enjoy my craft and forget about life’s issues even if for just a short while. No doubt I‘ll continue to have highs and lows along this creative journey, but I have a purpose to get out, continue to be creative and above all else, use photography as my weapon to fight the good fight against whatever blues I may be facing at that time.
Let’s talk about the photo. As previously mentioned, I took this photo last Monday as I was walking towards London Bridge where I managed to capture a pretty spectacular sunrise (one for a future post). I had with me my Fujifilm X-T30, my 16mm prime lens and a small table-top tripod. As I walked along the river, I looked back over my shoulder just as the sunlight started to peek through the clouds so stopped and captured this photo of HMS Belfast. With the blue hour fading away and the sunlight starting to appear, the result was these beautiful blues, purples and magentas across the image. It really did look like this at the time.
Getting up and out before sunrise can be challenging at times, but with a personal creative project providing me with motivation and purpose, I have the drive to get on location in time to witness this special time of day.
Until next time.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.