‘Wires’

by deltaBlog, RamblesPosted on No Comments

Last night I was at a gig and yeh I got a bit emotional but first let me start with what happened a few weeks to put it in context. I was listening to the song ‘Wires’ by Athlete. The song is written by the lead singer, Joel who’s baby daughter was born prematurely but after awhile all was okay. You may or may not know I have had major open heart surgery three times, so when my mum and I hear this song it reminds us both what we have been through. We celebrate that even with all the complications I still have come out okay so much so people can’t tell. A line (I’ll put all the lyrics at the end!) from the song says: “Looking at you now, you would never know” My last operation was when I was 14 years old and at that age my imagination ran wild. Even though I knew I’d live way past this I started thinking of death a lot. At this point I decided it would be a good idea to have the song “Wires” at my funeral in celebration of my heart complications never getting the better of me. While listening to the song by luck I found that Athlete would be doing a show in Manchester and just had to contact their management. They appreciated what it would mean to me to photograph them, so they sorted me out with a pass for the show. On my way to the show I started to wonder if it would live up to my expectations as people often say “Don’t meet your heroes”. When I got there, there was no pit to shoot from so I was with everyone else. The venue got so packed I couldn’t move but I didn’t care. I shot the first three songs as agreed and just enjoyed the rest of the show. They performed ‘Wires’ just before their encore. As they started I realised I was hearing the song that would be at my funeral. It’s kind of hard to explain but this meant so much to me, it was absolutely perfect. As the band waved goodbye to the audience the audience cheered and chanted the lyrics to Wires for 5 minutes before the band came back on to a huge cheer. I know people don’t like to talk about death but I just thought it needed to be said, always try and meet your heroes. Otherwise you’ll never know what they truly are like. Athlete to me are heroes not only for the song but also for being a lovely bunch of lads. I can’t thank them enough and will probably never be able to put it into words properly. If you’d like to let me know what you think or have your own experience please comment below! Here are the lyrics! You got wires, going inYou got wires, coming out of your skinYou got tears, making tracksI got tears, that are scared of the factsRunning, down corridors through, automatic doorsGot to get to you, got to see this throughI see hope is here, in a plastic boxI’ve seen christmas lights, reflect in your eyesYou got wires, going inYou got wires, coming out of your skinThere’s dry blood, on your wristYour dry blood on my fingertipRunning, down corridoors through, automatic doorsGot to get to you, got to see this throughFirst night of your life, curled up on your ownLooking at you now, you would never knowI see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyesYou’ll be alrightI see it in your eyes, I see it in your eyesYou’ll be alrightAlrightRunning, down corridors through, automatic doorsGot to get to you, got to see this throughI see hope is here, in a plastic boxI’ve seen christmas lights, reflect in your eyesdown corridors, through automatic doorsGot to get to you, got to see this throughFirst night of your life, curled up on your ownLooking at you now, you would never know.

Why Photography?

by deltaBlog, RamblesPosted on 6 Comments

When ever I speak to a photographer I always ask what got them into photography. Often it’s the enjoyment of it or the sense of achievement when they capture a great shot. For me these didn’t come into play as much as you may expect, so here is the real reason I started photography. While at university I was down, the lowest I had for many years. I won’t say why as I don’t feel it’s appropriate to put here but trust me, I was not in a good state. I kept trying to find a way out of this pit of self loathing but the more I tried the deeper the pit became. This went on for about 6 months where I was completely on edge, snappy and unsociable. Then one day I was laying on my bed playing with the camera on my phone thinking of interesting things I could photograph. I then just got up and went for a walk to find things to capture, this walk lasted nearly 4 hours. In this time I started to actually relax and feel at ease for the first time in what felt like forever and I was enjoying something. A couple of weeks later I bought my DSLR camera and for a long time you wouldn’t see me without it. For what ever reason photography completely and utterly releases all the stresses I have even if for a short time. This is why I always had my camera with me as I knew if I was feeling down I could just go out and shoot. Didn’t matter what, where, how or when but just doing it helped. I saw that the student’s Union at Keele was looking for a photographer for their nights so I went along and was given a trial period. For the first time in a while I was socialising and actively wanting to. I wish I could describe how it feels, imagine having the biggest headache of your life and it’s completely destroying your life and then you take some magical pill that takes away that tension and that pain completely straight away. That’s what photography does for me, it just makes everything okay for a while. I think we all need those times where we stop worrying and stop getting upset even for a moment and just live.  Even if it’s only so you can get in the right frame of mind to sort out the initial problem. So what helps you relax and feel all okay? Please comment below your thoughts!