Fogging

Ignorance or arrogance...?

Arrogance I'm afraid, I have always believed I was superhuman. I thought that my perfect eyesight would last forever. So when four years ago I was prescribed reading glasses, I was shocked and didn't wear them. At my next eye test 2 years later I was prescribed a stronger pair. This time the glasses could no longer be ignored - I had noticed the decline myself. I was indignant.

Please understand my frustration, my eyes are my job, observation to aid creation. Forever I am banging on at my students, "95% looking, 5% drawing". When I take photographs I have always preferred to use the manual settings. I hate not being in control...

So it seemed apt when I was gifted a roll of Kodak Recording Film 2475  by a neighbour. A high speed, very coarse grain film that is prone to fogging, (a cruel metaphor?) Perfect for my next outing with my architect friend Mark Chalmers to Montreathmont Woods. A  location that has separate symbolisation for us both. 

For myself, it has several special timeframes. As a youth, myself, my brother and our friends would cycle there for adventures. In my late teens, my parents moved to a cottage at the edge of the woods. This time exploration became braver as I ventured deeper into the thick coniferous forest. Latterly, Montreathmont became a place that I visited in self hypnosis. A calming, restorative, safe environment. The textures and smells comforting - dense musty moss underfoot neighbouring peaty warm ponds that enveloped and cradled. It is no exaggeration to say it has been a spiritual place of healing for me.

What endured as a place of healing for myself however was also the setting of a battle between the Picts and the Romans, at Battle Well, Montreathmont Moor. A bloody battle where it was recounted that the blood of the fallen flowed in the Battle Burn as far as Fithie, near Farnell. The blood that flowed so freely having long ago been absorbed by the land. The numerous deaths unevidenced except for bones of the past that emerge from time to time from the earth.

It has been decades since I last physically visited, so I was curious if time had fogged my memory as well as my eyesight. As you would expect many trees have fallen or been felled, but essentially the ambience of Montreathmont remains.

​I believe it is me that has changed more dramatically.
​

Supplement:
Seems that Mark gifted me the film some time ago.
I did wonder as I thought it was strange that the 2475 came with a bundle of Truprint.

Which suits the theme of this months blog, Fogging!