During her visit to Norwich, Bailee (who lives in Arizona, USA) joined us for a couple of Eureka walks*. She is now back at home - "Hi Bailey!" from all your Eureka friends - and has sent us photographs from her time with us. Above, you can see some shots of the Marble Hall in Surrey House, near the city centre. A feast for the eyes! * Please note: if you are a tourist visiting Norwich and would like to join us on a Eureka exploration of the city, please see HERE for further information
As regular visitors to our blog will be aware, we are offering places on Eureka photography walks to visitors to Norwich who wish to join with us to explore the city. We have been very fortunate to have our first such visitor join us for a couple of sessions recently. Her name is Bailee, and she is a young woman from Arizona in the USA. We asked if she could provide us with some testimony describing how she found 'the Eureka experience'. Here's what she said: "I went to Norwich on my own personal vacation, and was so dazzled by my surroundings that I felt compelled to photograph anything interesting I saw. I happened to be taking pictures one friday morning at a park in Norwich, where the Eureka Wellbeing Photography members happened to also be taking pictures, and I was introduced to each of them, welcomed instantly into their group. I can’t convey how happy I was at receiving such a warm welcome from such an array of artists, all sharing a common passion. It was delightful to exchange stories and ideas and really connect with such a pleasant group. I can say dearly that, despite the brevity of my stay, I left Norwich with a good handful of new friendships that I intend to cherish for a long time!" It was really lovely to meet Bailee and she is now a Eureka member - our second international member! If you are visiting Norwich and are interested in booking a photography walk with the Eureka members, please email Colin at howeychoosetouseit@gmail.com Here is some further information about the Eureka walks: Connect Eureka
Solve it by Walking - Alison Hall... Solvitur ambulando! 'Solve it by walking', is an ancient piece of wisdom, acknowledging
that the mind works differently when you're mobile. I'd shared
this phrase with a colleague many years ago, and then misplaced that knowledge
myself.
Little did I know the phrase had lodged in
Colin's memory and that we'd be leading a session about well-being together
more than ten years later.Our
brains don't come with an instruction manual, and sometimes we all need a
little reminder about how to look after it and ourselves - and this was exactly
what this afternoon's session aimed to do - talk about some of those things we
should all have in our personal well-being tool kit.
As the Exhibitions Coordinator for Time and Tide
museum in Great Yarmouth, over the last few months I've been working on Frayed:
Textiles on the Edge, an exhibition exploring textiles, self-expression and
well-being.Part of the associated
programme of events was a session at Gorleston library looking at the exhibition
in relation to the Five Ways to Well-Being, and the things you can do to
maintain your own well-being in your everyday life.The library-based session was followed by a well-being walk
along Gorleston's quayside.
The sun was bright, the breeze crisp.There were seagulls overhead and a seal
struggling against the tide in the water below.Walking, looking, talking and taking photos occupied our
next hour.The time and
space to connect with someone else and the place you find yourself in was focused
by the lens of an iPhone camera.We gave ourselves an opportunity to take notice andappreciate the beauty in the everyday,
ordinary and unkempt.
I'd gotten out of the habit of taking walks to
take photos, but the creative part of my brain soon got into gear. And the
discovery of the square photo setting on my phone (I was aware of it before but
I'd never really used it) meant I was starting to focus on what I was seeing
and photographing in much the same as I would if I was making my own paintings
and drawings (before museums became the focus of my working life I spent much
of my time making series of small square paintings based on fragments and
glimpses of landscapes and architecture.)
Sometimes, the art of taking a good photograph is when it tells a story. Here is one such image, submitted by Norwich City fan, Chris George. He hopes that there's a pot of gold at the end of this particular rainbow at Carrow Road.
These two photographs were taken in the most humdrum, everyday of settings. What are they images of though? As we Eurekarites say - find wonder as you wander.
