Kosovo

About 24 hours ago, just before going out for the evening, the thing that I knew full well already but was in a rather blissful state of denial over suddenly entered my waking consciousness and slapped me on the ears. Ouch! And, as so often happens with things like this, nature’s second opinion arrived, in this case in the form of a sentence buried in Paul’s Easter project brief email that arrived today. Trying to make sense of almost 700 photographs taken willy-nilly during my trip to Kosovo last month and turn them into a photo essay has undoubtedly been an education, but as I think I can safely say on behalf of all of us, education isn’t always a pleasure. No pain, no gain. Rather than waste any more of my or anyone else’s valuable time I believe it’s wise to abandon my absurd ideas and be happy with what I learnt from the experience. Not to say that the exercise was a total waste of time. Far from it in fact. What I’ve got from my Kosovo trip are a handful of interesting pictures that I can add to the small body of work I’ve been creating with my Nokia since I bought it eight months ago, a fact that when I think about it is something to be rather proud of. The entire exercise taught me an enormous amount, and it’s time to add these experiences to my growth as a serious photographer and move on. Even nicer than the value the experience had added to my own development is the knowledge that there are others on the course who were there for me when I needed them. What a fabulous roller coaster of a ride this course is.