Thinking Hands Photography Project
'You must be on alert with the
brain, the eye, the heart and have a suppleness of body.'
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Manual labour is a misnomer. When we work with our hands we also
work with our brains and our hearts. We make countless
decisions, choices and calculations. We use our imagination and
will, immersing ourselves in the process and the object. The pride
we feel at the end result demonstrates that we instinctively value
what we make with our hands.
'the satisfactions of manifesting
oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been
known to make a man quiet and easy.'
Matthew B Crawford.
However, society places a higher value on purely cerebral work,
confusing craft with mindless labour. In doing so we overlook the
skill and commitment required to make, repair or tend things with
our hands-the very things that make our world work.
In my photography project 'Thinking Hands', I present the
mental, emotional and physical effort required to work with our
hands. The project is my reflection on the dexterity and complex
mental processes that underlie these everyday acts of
creativity.
When we work with our hands, we change the world around us. In
that way, our hands define our society just as much as our
minds.
"Making marmalade is a golden day in the year. It's no accident
that the day comes as our winter bites hardest - you fill your
whole home with the aromas of zest and sweetness, and the
brightness of the fruit in a barren season. You'd think that making
food is transitory, but on marmalade day you think of the pleasure
of giving jars to friends and family over the coming year. And
whenever you come to enjoy the marmalade yourself, you think back
to the sensual warmth and joy of a day well spent with friends, all
of us aglow with shared labour and laughter."
Clare
Matthew Crawford The Case for Working with Your Hands: Or
Why Office Work Is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good by
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/22/case-working-hands-michael-crawford