What is The Sensual Eye?
I have been asked by several people who know me "what is a Sensual Eye?" Now I am not sure that I can adequately answer this question, and I know that I am not qualified to do so; but I will attempt to answer it to the best of my ability, and by stating what I think it is. Vision is a sense, (yes I know I am stating the bleeding obvious, before you all start shouting) and, as far as I can see, anything which stimulates that sense could be termed sensual; so in terms of vision this could be light, detail, colour etc. etc.. These things are all involved in the photographs I take, I have a fascination with light, and as an artist I observe detail and colour; but for me it goes beyond this, it is about the interplay of all of these things, how different light sources affect colour and detail etc.. We have all observed how different the landscape looks on a sunny day when the colours are enhanced by the sun and details are sharply defined, than it does on a really misty day when all colours are leeched and seem dull and flat, and detail seems to be almost non existent; this interplay of light, shade, colour and detail is what, to me at least, is sensual. But I think it goes beyond that, I think that The Sensual Eye sees things that most people simply walk past; it sees odd details, odd juxtapositions of things, odd reflections etc. that most people just don't notice. So I think that a part of the answer is that it concerns observation; now I am not saying that all people are not observant, most people are too busy living their busy lives to actually notice what they see, that is that they see things without them actually registering in their conscious mind. People like myself, particularly those who become artists and photograpers etc. spend vast quantities of time simply looking, observing the subject of their attention, to the point where it becomes second nature; thus when we see something unusual it impacts upon our conscious mind and draws our attention to it. So, that is what I think The Sensual Eye is, at least that is what it is to me personally. I am sure that this is a far from adequate answer to a very complex question, and if it were to be answered fully it would probably require at the very least a thick book.




