So, this is a combination post because I am all over the
place at the moment and my workload is photography related. I am currently
still editing the wedding images around moving back to my home town
post-university and visiting my now-long-distance boyfriend. As such, I may not
be posting next week due to the aforementioned visiting. Many apologies.
So (hello, repetitive paragraph starter), on Wednesday, I
packed up all of my belongings ready to go home the next day. I realised I had
both more and less things than I originally thought. It was a strange sensation;
I’ve seen all of my things packed up in that way before when going to and from
University before but seeing them there for the last time, in that city for the
last time, was odd.
Of all of the three houses I lived in during my time at
University, the last one is perhaps the one that holds the most significance,
as the year held the most significance to my degree. In that house, I met my
boyfriend, I applied to my MA, I got my internship for the summer. My future
began in that house.
When I began my BA, I had no idea what I wanted in life. I
wanted to write, obviously; you don’t do a degree in Creative Writing if you
don’t want to write. However, I knew that only the very lucky get to live off
of their writing. Now that I’ve finished, I know almost exactly where my life
is going and how it’s going to get there. It’s both exciting and terrifying.
University is almost like a rebirth. Almost.
I have changed a lot over my three years, matured, emerged
from my ‘shell’, but I have always been true to myself and that’s something I
think is very important.
In other entries I might write more about the course itself
and what I learned from it but right now, I think I’m slightly overwhelmed by
the fact that it is over. I am not sure it has sunk in that I won’t live in
Chester again; in September I won’t be moving back to complete another year. In
September, I will be at Oxford Brookes.
I have no doubt that my next University experience will be
vastly different to my last. The campuses are different: one looks old, one
looks new; one is smaller, one is bigger; one was easy to navigate from the
start, the other looks terrifying. This course only lasts for a year, my BA was
three. The subject matter is different but still related.
I am so excited. I cannot wait for my future. But, I am
still sad that this chapter of my life-book has come to an end.
With that in mind, the Photo Friday portion of this post is
going to contain only photos. Photos of the most beautiful day that I have ever
experienced. If you are interested in learning more about that day, I have
included a write up of it (from my old blog) under a jump break.
Goodbye, Chester.
Today is beautiful. It's not the conventional sunny, blue-skied day,
it's really foggy/misty and it's near impossible to even see the end of the
street. I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to do outdoor shots for my 365
project today even though it was bitterly cold. It's made me realise how much
this project means to me and how wonderful it is to do, I would never have seen
or heard or experienced this day quite like I did if not for this project.
The day started with a seminar, which was interesting in the Lewis
Carroll/Alice/Angela Carter/John Dee/Edward Kelley section but the workshopping
bit wasn't so good – the exercise wasn't really what I'm into, I don't think
anyone else was particularly either, oh well. I will definitely be researching
John Dee and Edward Kelley, they seem fascinating. I'd heard of them before but
I couldn't remember why. I also need to watch Jan Svankmayer's Alice, if I can,
and read the rest of the Carter story. I'm enthused.
After the seminar, I wandered through the mists into Chester city
centre to pay my rent and see what I could photograph. I knew I wanted misty
photos but I wasn't sure where I wanted them to be, so trudged off to Starbucks
for a hot chocolate (which I, of course, took a photo of) and a wrap – Chicken
Salsa or something like that. In Starbucks was a wonder of wonders: there was a
man with the most epic beard I have ever seen, he was like one massive beard
with a person hanging off of it. The beard was its own entity; he was just some
strange growth on the end. He looked like he'd stepped out of a fantasy novel
and I wish I could've taken a photo; there was no way I could be sly enough
though and I couldn't bring myself to go and ask just in case his voice didn't
sound as I imagined it to. I've noticed that when you sit or walk anywhere with
an SLR and don't look like a tourist (I was wearing my University hoodie so
definitely looked like a student) people look at you with so much suspicion
it's like they assume you're following them around and taking photos of them. I
am not a personal investigator, though that could be quite fun. It's quite
amusing to see how guilty people can look too, sometimes you can tell when one
of these suspicious people has something to hide – I have no idea what but I
like to let my imagination runaway with itself.
Where was I? Starbucks. Right. While in Starbucks, whining in my head
about the lack of signal I get when I'm sat in there, it occurred to me that
the river might be a good place to take a few photos. Off I went, taking photos
as I went of whatever looked pleasing. The walk was nice, slow and I paused
every so often just to take in my surroundings, I was seriously entranced by
the way the world looked today, I still am. Then I got to the river. There are
no words. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I've seen the river
before, of course, but not like this. It was almost completely deserted. Every
time I've been there it's been packed with tourists and dog-walkers, normal
walkers, teenagers, elderly couples out for a stroll; it's generally hard to
get a bench to sit on.
As I came out of the small winding road that leads down to it I walked
past Hickory's(?), which is an American steak bar or something, they play a
recorded voice to get people to come in and sample their meals and it echoed
everywhere. It was really eerie, like being in a tense scene in a film when you
know something is going to jump out at you and scare you. Luckily nothing did.
All the noise from the Hickory thing seemed to just drift off as I
neared the water's edge. All I could hear down there was the birds and the
occasional soft lapping of water. I could barely see over to the other bank and
the sun was just a faint white disc through the fog. The ferry that does river
cruises was just sat in the middle of the water, I don't think anyone was on it
(it didn't move at all) and it left me wondering how they were going to get to
it afterwards. The Queen's Park Bridge was coming faintly out of the mist and
the bandstand loomed almost ominously. Everything seemed colourless.
Everything was very still too. There was no wind. It really felt like
I'd stepped into a different world, a world from a book for example. I'm pretty
sure the memory of today will stay with me forever. If it doesn't I have over
100 photos to remind myself.
On a less pretty note, I almost got eaten by a pair of swans. I was
taking photos of them and I think I got a bit too close. They started hissing
at me and making really weird noises. Speaking of noises, I now know what noise
a squirrel makes – I never knew until today. I spent 15 minutes chasing
uncooperative squirrels. Whenever I got close enough for a good photo they'd
dart off before the photo took, or during, so all I got were squirrel smudges.
By the time I finally decided to go home there was a band type thing
playing in the street, they made my day even better, so, of course, I took
photos. They seemed so happy and it made me wish I a)knew how to dance properly
and b)had a partner to dance with. It would have been fun.
So, yes. That was my day. It was lovely. Hence the detailed blog entry.
Enjoy.
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