Last year was full of incredible experiences, family time, travels and photography. At times, it was also perhaps a little busy. In contrast, this year has been a bit of an unusual one with a lot of false starts and ditched plans, and towards the end of summer, I found myself having to take some time off after several rounds of ill health and other pressures weighing in.
Having to take time to rest and recover was to me shockingly disruptive but as time passed, something started to happen. The Japanese have a word, ma, which meaning includes a pause in time, an interval, a gap or emptiness in space. It is a concept about the empty or negative space between things but also about how that space is needed for things and experiences in life to breathe. The absence and interruption is needed.
I discovered this myself when through the enforced standstill and boredom, old ideas started resurfacing and new ideas and connections began to fill the gaps. On one particular day, a fully-formed idea for a new photo series came to me out of my then-current frustration, one which I would be able to work on while resting, using what time, capacity and existing work I had available. It was born, completed and made public in just two days, which is unusual for me, as I normally work on long term projects that can last years. It is on my website here, if you want to have a look:
I didn’t know it when I set out to work on that project but it became the turning point for my recovery and for getting my creative purpose, as well as my health back. It gave me something I hadn’t even realised I had lost in my until-then forced attempt to push forward through difficulty; it was in the absence of trying that I suddenly started to see and notice something else.
- Lea, November 2025
