Laundry day on Burano

My Scholarship entry - A 'place' I have visited

Italy | Saturday, January 12, 2013 | 5 photos

Time is often treated as a precious commodity not to be ‘wasted’. However, the mental and physical benefits of stillness - savouring individual moments in space and time - cannot be overstated.

Stillness does not come easily to me, temporally or spatially. I have for a few years tried bringing as much stillness into my life as possible. There are many ways, but only one allows for a moment to first be savoured, then subsequently reproduced, shared and enjoyed anew by countless others anywhere in the world, at any time. Not merely eliciting tranquility and mental clarity upon its devotees, this form of capturing stillness provides education, excitement and creative expansion. As flexible as time itself, photography fascinates me.

I have learnt to be flexible with time and also with space. I am captivated by culture and the unfamiliar; after university, I moved to Istanbul to teach English and live in an unfamiliar culture. My mind, body and camera haven’t stopped thanking me since. My background is not in photography but in writing, composing and performing music and drama. But to only interpret the world is not enough for me. I want to see it and keep it still, moment by moment.