THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS

By Colm Flanagan Head of School

Up until the age of 13 my best subject was English. I was usually top of the class, enjoyed writing and thought I was pretty good at it. Then one day in 7th grade/Year 8 (we called it ‘second year’ in England in those days), Mr Beard, my English teacher, read out Maura Tuohy’s homework assignment. It was a story. I can’t remember what it was about but Mr Beard’s intention was to inspire us with the quality of Maura’s writing. Maura’s writing really was wonderful. I listened in awe to the words she was using and how they worked as beautifully balanced, descriptive sentences. Unfortunately, I was not inspired. In fact, it had the opposite effect. I realised on that day that I was not a writer in the way I I had previously thought of myself. I realised that Maura had a talent that was beyond my reach. The lesson I should have taken away was that I need to work and practice and read my way to being as good as Maura. But I didn’t. I gave up.

In the summer of 2020, for the first time in my life and due to travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic, I spent the holiday largely on my own. I bought a camera and started taking photographs around the streets of Seoul. Having done so, I started comparing my efforts to the amazing professional and amateur photographers that exist today. Once again I became aware of other people’s far superior artistic talent. This time however I didn’t give up. This time, I decided to work hard at improving my ability of capturing images that I enjoy and have some merit. This time I’m using the talent of other people to encourage me to do better. I have discovered that the process of the work and how much I enjoy photography is way more important than determining whether I’m a good photographer or not. And besides, when you read about how great photographers become great, it always involves lots of dedication and practice. Being involved in the artistic process is something that is open to all of us. Have a go! My favourite quote on the creation of art is by one of the most original artists of the 20th century:

‘Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.”

– Salvador Dali