Shul
The Tibetan word for a
track is shul which
means "a mark that remains after that which made it has passed by - a
footprint, for example. A path is a shul because it is the impression in
the ground left by the regular tread of feet, which has kept it clear of
obstructions and maintained it for the use of others." (Solnit, 2005, P.51). My work focuses on woodland paths, shuls, and walking
them allows me to slow down, to fully experience and appreciate the landscape
through which I travel.
Like artists and
photographer Hamish Fulton, Richard Long and Paul Gaffney I have long found
walking to be a meditative experience (Turner Contemporary website, 2012; Global Archive Photography, 2015). Roger
Deakin writes ‘To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we
ourselves are transformed. It is where you travel to find yourself,
often, paradoxically, by getting lost.’ (Deakin, 2007, P. X).
Following a woodland path
is not straightforward. The horizon is
limited. Woods muffle external sounds
leaving only birdsong, the rustling of leaves or the creaking of trees in the
wind. Choices have to be made. The path may be broad and well-defined;
boundaries may be clear with wild and tangled undergrowth beyond. Other paths are less definite, ephemeral, a
trace of a path. Perhaps there will only
be a bent blade of grass or scuffed leaves that indicate that something has
passed this way. Is the decision made to
remain on the wider track, safer, more secure where many have travelled before;
or is it to follow the less sure route and, if so, what is to be found at its furthest
extremity? Nothing - just the wood? Or is there a way forward by making one’s own
path and forging a new route?
Bibliography
Bowditch, T and Rochowski, N. (2016) Paul Gaffney Global
Archive Photography Available from:
http://globalarchivephotography.com/project/paul-gaffney/ [Accessed
23.2.16]
Fulton, H. (2017) Hamish Fulton [online] Available from:
http://www.hamish-fulton.com/ [Accessed 18.4.17]
Gaffney, P.(2017) Paul Gaffney [online] Available from: http://www.paulgaffneyphotography.com/
[Accessed 18.4.17]
Long, R. (2017) Richard Long [online] Available from:
http://www.richardlong.org/ [Accessed 18.4.17]
Rohrauer. C (2014) Claudia Rohrauer [online] Available from: http://www.claudiarohrauer.info/?/work/photo-trekking/
[Accessed 18.4.17]
Solnit, R. (2006) A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Edinburgh, Canongate Books
Turner Contemporary (2012) Hamish Fulton: Walk
[online] Available from:
https://www.turnercontemporary.org/media/documents/Hamish-Fulton-background-resource.pdf
[Accessed 18.04.17
