Diaries of a photographer Part 1

Greetings.

I went on one of my photographic missions the other day for my current project and as I often do, wrote some stuff as I did my walk. Helps me to remember stuff that may be pertinant at a later date and its a nice break from taking pictures! So, I thought I would serialise it here on the blog. Hurrah. So here is part one.

12/10/06

10.30 - Arrived in Lewes and gone to the river. Lewes feels like a town that wants to stay stuck in the middle class past! It is beautiful in parts yet shatered by a Tesco to my right and a brewery to the left. The brewery has a nostalgic auro about it.

11.23 - Not sure wheter I avoid photos of people due to not wanting to ask or as an aesthetic choice! There were a couple of work men, could have made a good image but I didn't. People detract from the landscape a bit though, the image becomes more about them than their surroundings perhaps?
The river is like a railway - it has a band of non space running by it, interspersed with industry. The railway runs near this river though and I guess pre-industrialisation would have been the main transport system.

13.35 - The solitude of these walks is what really appeals to me I think. being alone with thoughts and the landscape only sharing what I shoot or write.
Having said that, I have come accross several walkers today. The first, Steve from Lewes stopped and chatted about photography and the river. He used to be a photographer but gave it up as he was spending too much time in a studio and not enough outside.
Second three retirees on a jaunt. One questioned me about my camera and how he had gone digital after 20 years of inhaling darkroom chemicals!
What is it with men and the gagetry of photography - spotting cameras and discussing models!
It also seems to me the old timers are moving to digital more than the new photography blood.
Can't help thinking these images I am taking are saying nothing. Am I just another middle class landscape photographer desperately seeking nostalgia in England's garden?
So what am I drawn to? Solitude, pictureseque, industry and decline, non spaces, the proximity of urban and rural, the sublime and the practical elements of modernity meeting.

16.03 - Sitting back on Steve from Lewes' perch.
I went the wrong way.
The route never reallt tallied up with the map. At Lewes I just saw some interesting stuff down river and went that way...the wrong way.
I had to take a detour as I got to some private land. Thats when I was sure something wasn't right.
I met another gent, he was interested in my camera. I asked for directions back to the river and thats when it transpored I was near Barcombe.
Apparantly Barcome is very nice.
I am heading back to Lewes the way I came as I didn't want to be walking through fields come sun down. Still. I saw some interesting stuff I wouldn't have done otherwise and I can save Newhaven for another day.
I guess it shouldn't really matter which way I go for this project, its what I see on route.
Still not sure what I am trying to achieve. The more I try to explain my motivations, the more lost I get.
I guess its just a matter of sticking to the idea and working it through.
Man in a canoe just went past. That will teach me to ensure I have film loaded at all times.