A Personal Sojourn ... capturing images as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone forever...

in front of the window ...

a collection of images 1

south african landscapes

5. You romanticise the better memories and bury the  moments that hurt you the most. We like to immerse ourselves in nostalgia and romanticise moments of our lives, even if they weren’t ideal circumstances, even if there were so many negative factors involved. I think this is why a lot of older people talk warmly about the moments in their 20s when they were struggling. With every obstacle you overcome you become stronger in the process. When you look back at these times you focus on the moments that changed you, that made you evolve into the person you are now, and you bury the memories that incite pain and heartbreak. It’s the human way.  [Picture: 'Some of the many people I encountered during my travels... some I got to know a little better, other's remained 'strangers...]

4. You look back at how far you’ve come since you last left. We are constantly in the process of reinventing ourselves and there’s no greater realisation of that than when you come back to a place, like a ghost revisiting their former life or just looking at a photograph of a time gone by. Maybe the last time you were there, you were about to embark on a new journey of some kind or there was an experience that left you forever changed and compelled to start new somewhere else. You aren’t the same person you used to be and you won’t be the same person when you come back a year, two years, or five years from now. [Picture: A collage of my home away from home in Italy]

3. You miss the people you used to know. An unfortunate side effect of growing up is growing apart from the people you used to know the best. People move, change jobs, significant others, and begin again in their own way. As much as we think we stay connected to others through social media there’s an empty experience that comes from that digital connection unless both people make a concentrated effort to stay in each other’s lives. When you revisit those same old haunts you used to experience with certain people you’re forced to come to terms with your relationships with them. [Picture:  A collage of good friends past and present]

2. There’s a bitter-sweet feeling that comes when you realise the things and places you once knew are no longer the same. You drive through the streets and the neighbourhoods you used to frequent only to realise just how much is different now. Families have moved, new buildings have been put up, others have been torn down. Looking through old photographs, you discover that not only have you changed since you were there, but the places have changed in their own way too. It’s a bitter-sweet feeling when you know nothing will ever be the same again. Everything experiences its own rebirth. [Picture: My favourite book on Africa and two street-art figures]

1. I think about who I used to be the last time I was here. I reflect on what age I was, the place I was at in my life, and the goals I had at that time. At times it can feel a bit surreal to think about the person I used to be, the person I am now, and who I’d like to be in the future. Sometimes when I think about all the different experiences I’ve had, I almost feel detached from the younger version of myself, as if he is a story in someone else’s book.  When I revisit the memory of the person I used to be it can be an eye-opening reflection on how I’ve grown and evolved over the years. My very first teddy bear - 62 years old now...