Space is one of my favourite words. I love all that it implies and how it relates to our lives and our art. Do you carve out space for yourself during your day? A few moments of silence. It might be with your early morning cup of coffee when you take time to smell the scent of the morning breeze and all that the day has to offer. Or perhaps when you go to the gym or for a run or maybe even just when you drive to work. Or in the last few moments before you go to sleep when you utter the last few sighs of your day. It does not matter how you find your space – just that you do.
In yoga we talk of making space in our bodies. Before I go into a pose I think about where in my body I need to make space. If I am doing a backbend I need to make space in my spine and perhaps my shoulders. If I am doing a forward bend I might need to make space in my hips and between my ribs, and I always, always need to make space in my mind. I carve out space for myself everyday on my mat or when I go for a run. With each inhale and exhale I release the old, the cramped and the clutter from my mind and body and make space for the new. Old thoughts, old patterns and old habits are let go and then there is all that beautiful space for creativity to unfold. Space allows room for dreaming. It is when the stirrings of new ideas begin and images already dreamt can evolve towards reality.
I like space in art. It allows the viewer to linger and imagine. It allows the viewer to dream. What they dream of does not matter. It only matters that they do. Allow space in your photographs for a sigh from the viewer. Space for their gaze to wander and wonder. Make space in your stories so that the reader has room to imagine. Space for those inhales and exhales to happen. Even if you are shooting stock, as I do, allow space for words in your photographs.
Space, is to me, one of the most underrated of modern day concepts. Parents and schools fill their children’s lives and give them no space to breathe. Children need space to dream. They need to lie under a tree and look up at all that beautiful space in the sky and imagine. They need to be allowed to make space in their bodies with movement. They too need spaces in their stories.
Space is not necessarily meant to be filled. It can be just space. Let it be that.
nikivanvelden 