Marc Provins

Lack of sleep is the bane of my life, arriving unannounced it stays for a while and then leaves without a fuss, probably for some other poor soul. I respond to the world in a different way whilst tired, more tactile and instinctive and less logical or cognitive. This can actually be quite beneficial for my photography work, as I'm very much living in the moment with heightened senses informing my creative choices. I had just such a day on Saturday, I'd made quite a few pictures and was on my way home when a couple came out of their house with their Dalmatian dog. As they walked past me the dog came over to me and I instinctively stroked him, the softness of his fur unexpectedly transported me back to my childhood as it felt precisely like Satchmo our family Dalmatian. I must have stroked hundreds of dogs in the intervening years but I'd never had that sense of sameness before, I wanted to run after the dog for another memory hit, resisted, but was left thinking ...

Strange what tiredness can do to you. To use Edu-speak work has been 'challenging' of late, and at the risk of sounding like a whinging teacher it has felt like a long term.  I had a curious Gloria Gaynor moment during a particularly hectic lesson this week. The computer system had gone down and after half an hour of trying to get things working again I decided to go to plan B. The students had got pretty restless by this point; I'd already had to break up a physical play-fight between two male students older enough to know better. So I wiped off the original set of tasks from the whiteboard and was in the process of writing up the new ones whilst also fielding numerous questions from the keener members of the class.   I was stopped in my tracks when I realised I'd written, "I WILL SURVIVE" in large letters across it instead of “I will provide A2 paper” .  I tentatively turned my head to see if anyone had noticed and was greeted my a row of grins from t...

Urgh, such a strange day today, I just couldn't wake up properly and everything seemed complicated or difficult, even speaking. We drove to Liverpool, I went the wrong way even though the car could probably drive itself there I've been so often. We nearly ran out of petrol, I should have stayed in bed. Surprisingly I managed to use my camera, I thought it best to go off on my own for a bit and leave my companions to catch up without me gibbering in the corner. Normal service will be resumed soon I hope.