Vigils on a voyeur’s salary

Ever since our lock-down here in Ireland, I've felt the need for some form of visual consolation outside of the usual selfie entertainment.

As a visual storyteller, I've focused on producing black & white photo montages – layers of my digital photographs and transparencies sandwiched between commercially licensed images. Patrons have bought my work. I've had exhibitions.

Yet now I was faced with a different kind of yearning. The purpose of the process and the finished composition felt unfulfilling. In answer to my hunger, I turned to creating images using more vibrant colors.

What I discovered while contemplating the warm heat and cool coldness of the hues was that I lost myself in the process. In the midst of such color saturation, I felt energetically restored. Working with such an array of colors filled the pit in my gut, balanced my nerves and grounded my being. I could feel the happiness that I missed resolve itself in the imagery. I forgot my grey mood, my imaginary isolated state.

Let me just add that no matter how subtle the sound or the image—how we perceive music or a photograph—the very act of hearing and seeing evokes bodily sensations. Whether we're impacted during or afterwards, whether we're aware of what is happening or not, the arts leave us with certain impressions to consider. Those invisible wavelengths move through the ethers to stir the emotions, to ignite our memories and fantasies, to fuel our passions. When this magic occurs, what is left is a sense of tender longing and appreciation for what life provides and takes away.

On that note, I leave you to listen, perhaps dream and find your peace while contemplating a few photo montages from my vigils on a voyeur's salary.

Here is the first image, plus music to enjoy while gazing at it. Use the ctrl⇒+ or ctrl⇒- commands to scale any image to fit your screen. For more of my work, visit my website layered.photos.

The second.

The third.

The last for today.