Adrian Wyatt Photography

Xross Purposes

Exploring Photography as a way to Well Being

“If we’re not careful, we will live our lives as echoes, an imitation of our authentic selves.”

(Erwin Raphael McManus: The Artisan Soul)

xrosspurpose

All photographs and reflections are my own and explore our world, well being, self, travel through the lens. Website at https://xrosspurposes.com/

Just can't get enough. "All truly great thoughts

Just can't get enough.

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” (Friedrich Nietzsche.)

I have said elsewhere I am not a summer person. Long days impose upon my preferred longer nights, and despite being in England sun and dry pavements do their darnedest to negate my efforts at reflections, neon signs and moody images.

At times I wish I could just hibernate for the summer..and perhaps I would if it were not for my love of the backstreets, alleyways, history and imposing buildings of London.

I am not talking tourist attractions (please keep me away) but the less obvious, at least for this out of towner. I scan IG for places in London I don't know, nag people I know to find where shots were taken and then, still ill equipped I set foot again into my city of inspiration.

Here the alleyways and walkways clear my mind of negative thinking, the stories I make up as I walk around inspire my thinking towards creativity and in this playground my mind is set free to ask questions I didn't know I had and concierge answers otherwise beyond me.

I really can't get enough of London and walking around really does allow the pace to conceive those thoughts and ideas.

#xrosspurpose #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #shadthames

Health and Safety "Never was anything great achiev

Health and Safety
"Never was anything great achieved without danger." (Niccolo Machiavelli)

Sometimes, as they say an image tells a thousand words. Spotted recently in Bath on a Street Photography one to one, I couldn't resist standing and watching...just in case
All in the name of art of course!

#igersbath #yourcityshotz #yourbathcity #visitbath #streetphotography #streetphotographers #streetphotographyinternational #healthandsafety #decorating #scaffolding #yourbathguide

Humbled to have been asked by Boys in Bristol Phot

Humbled to have been asked by Boys in Bristol Photography to be part of the below exhibition with so many other local photographers I admire.

We would like to invite you to our photography exhibition at NatWest Bank, Broadmead.

The exhibition celebrates @bristolparksproject and additionally features various images from Bristol captured by our local talented photographers! 📸

Photographers:
@Boys in Bristol Photography
@Jeremy Fennell
@unqualified_shutterbug
@shortandgrindy
@zolaczakl
@emma_hodson_wildlife
@bernard.bryden

Date: 1st - 20th July
Location: NatWest Bank, Broadmead, BS1 3EU

On the last day of the exhibition (Saturday, 20th of July), we are joining in on a photowalk around Bristol. Come and enjoy the walk with us!

I don't do... "There is a time in the last few day

I don't do...
"There is a time in the last few days of summer when the ripeness of autumn fills the air." (Rudolfo Anaya.)

I don't do summer, that's it said it. I don't do pretty or flowers. Sorry normally just me.

Like the quote implies, I don't mind the last days of summer, when the chill starts to hit the air, when the nights have drawn in, when cold cider moves to mulled cider (I know I don't drink anyway) when endless green leaves show the first tints of yellow, red and gold and when hay fever is defeated again for another season.

I struggle to photograph in summer, whether it's the heat, the lack of the darkness I like to play in, inspirations for that which I like to photograph, I don't know. And flowers, well truth be told I prefer to admire the intricate beauty rather than photograph, perhaps because I find it too frustrating and can't!

So why images of summer and flowers?

Well this is the wonderful Sanctuary Gardens in Keynsham (between Bristol and Bath.) Developed from an area of disused allotment by Trevor James and others it is a little haven from the rain in winter, heat in summer.

Keynsham Snap and Stroll a Photography for well being group I facilitate each week in Keynsham with Adrian Bretell regularly use it with it's fire for heating water, pit for bacon butties in winter and the natural sense of beauty, solitude and an ambiance of quietness as the adjacent river runs by.

It is always a reminder to me that calm, connection, with self, nature and others, and a clarity of mind can often be found not in where WE are most comfortable but where nature can touch us on her terms not ours.

It is a place where nature shows me more than flowers, where the summer heat touches without burning and where even I can be allowed to take summer photos of flowers.

#walkinbristol #igersbristol #igersbath #walkinbath #yourbristol #yourbathcity #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #solitide #sanctuary #sanctuarygardens #keynshamphotographicsociety #keynshamvoice #keynshamtowncouncil #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #summertime #igersuk

Passionate to share. Copied from my other page. R

Passionate to share. Copied from my other page.

Really thankful to Michael Auton and B&NES Community Catalysts for this process. Doing this means a great deal to me. Am available in Bath, Bristol and the South West.

We now have 18 community enterprises which have completed the Community Catalysts Bath & North East Somerset Development Programme. Meet Adrian, a photographer who has been running a community group called Snap and Stroll which uses the skills of photography to support mental health challenges. His Community Enterprise @xrosspurpose will be supporting adults with Autism. It has been a real pleasure supporting Adrian to formulate his plans and create his portfolio to ensure he is meeting our Doing it Right Standards.
If, like me, you feel inspired by Adrian and have your own ideas about a service or activity you want to promote to improve the health and wellbeing of adults in BANES, we would love to hear from you. Our free service could help you make your dream a reality
⭐️Find out more ⭐️
Leave your details and l will be in touch asap to tell you more.
➡️ Leave your details here: https://bit.ly/CommCatsBanes
Or contact me Michael directly:
Michael Auton, B&NES Community Catalysts Bath & North East Somerset
📞 Phone or text: 07443 191 851
📩 Email: michael.auton@communitycatalysts.co.uk
We are a social enterprise operating across the UK which helps local people to support other local people.

#walkinbristol #learningdisabilities #learningdifficulties @autism #photography #photomentoring #bathmind @yourbristol #yourbathcity

City life "Streets are like children, David though

City life
"Streets are like children, David thought; the small ones go to bed first." (Helen MacInnes.)

It was not so many years ago that I wanted to get away from my home town of Bristol, to live pretty much anywhere else. It wasn't to go and live in the country with cottage and a white picket fence but I had just fallen out of love with this city called home.

But during COVID as we took those allowed walks I started to discover its oddities and then even more so the opportunities it gave at night.

I am after all a city lad, born and bred. London and New York are like playgrounds for me, and in it I even find, at night a greater space for my mind to find answers and a calm that is real more so than on any beach or mountain top.

I love the above quote. It speaks to me. How would I cope in a place that sleeps more than it spends awake, where as night comes the curtains are drawn and people seem to hibernate (please nothing discourteous meant this is just me.)

I love my city at night where I can sit and count the office lights, ponder the work of those keeping these buildings safe and lit, where I can imagine tomorrow's conversations, which coffees will be bought as the cafes open and even stop and chat to those, who like me, struggle to sleep when such opportunities for the imagination are formed. Yes, today I like my city, but at night I Iove it, at least before it goes to bed!

Are you a night person?

#walkinbristol #igersbristol
#yourcityshotz
#yourbristol #bristol247 #bristollifemag #bristolatnight #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #redcliffeandtemplebid #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #visitbristol#bbcwest #nightphotography #streetsatnight #insomniaphotos

"The strongest of all warriors are these two — T

"The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience." (Leo Tolstoy.)

I don't think Tolstoy and I would get on. Not that I wouldn't want to, but to be honest I am one of the most impatient of people. It is the conflict within me, the mindful photographer v the total activist who needs to be on the go.

It also conflicts me in my street genre, moving around looking v finding a location and waiting.

This was such a time. Taken on the South Bank in London I could see the potential, I just wanted someone with a contrasting coat to walk by but wait as I did (no not a long time) that person either didn't exist or they were avoiding me! In the end I made the best of the situation, seeing the yellow reflected in the handrail, it would have to do.

But it is one reason I go to London so much, it is full of locations and opportunities where just sitting, lying down (if only for odd looks) provides an opportunity for an image for the one who gives it time and patience.

I do hope to learn this more and more if only so I can think Tolstoy has taught me something.

What about you, do you have the places you can sit and wait for an image? Do you have photographic conflicts?

#streetphotography
#streetphotographyinternational
#yourcityshotz #yourtravelshotz
#xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #visitlondon #londonphotocapture #londonstreets #southbank #southbanklondon #southbankcentre #patience #justwait
#mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer

Are you an artist? "Art can permeate the very deep

Are you an artist?
"Art can permeate the very deepest part of us, where no words exist." (Eileen Miller.)

This last weekend, like many fans, I was glued to the TV for the new and new series of Dr Who. One episode in particular I found quite moving. How the world would be if there was no music. For me it was quite thought provoking.

So I have been thinking, what would it be like if there was no art, or if none of us embraced the artist within us.

Art, painting, photography, music writing, pottery, sewing, cooking, engraving, take your pick. Now, as someone who always believed I didn't have an artistic bone in his body, I have come to believe there is an artist in us all.

These pics were taken a few weeks ago on a Street Photography course I led from @bristolfolkhouse at St Nicolas market. The artists details I have lost (if you have them please let me know so I can promote him.)

Look around the market and there are endless expressions of art, not just for sale, but in, and the very buildings themselves.

We are surrounded by art, surrounded by the beauty artists bring. How depressing the world would be without it.

So a plea, not from me and the Dr, discover the artist within you, believe in the artist within you and then let the artist free. The world is so much better for it.

#bristolfolkhouse #yourcityshotz #yourbristol #walkinbristol #igersbristol #bristol247 #totalguidetobristol #stnicolasmarket #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #bristollifemagazine #bristollifemag #bristol #streetphotography #artist #artforwellbeing

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." (Salvador Dali.)

Dali gives me confidence when my images, as here, are far from perfect. I am not happy with the composition, so will go back, but this was my first weekend trying out a new camera and lens.

But it has got me thinking what makes the near perfect image? Without doubt, down through the years there have been photographers whose images were as close to it as I think possible. Certainly there are those whose images have literally changed the way we see or interact with the world.

What did judges see in some of my images, not others, and does it matter?

After much reflection I have come to this conclusion. It does not, for me matter. Why? Because I don't want my images to be so much about what I see, as what I feel. Now yes, some will argue but your images should evolve that to others. I don't really agree. You see my feelings at a given moment in time are mine. They are influenced by my history, my culture, my mental and physical health, how I see and interact with the world, what I like and don't. My feelings when I press the shutter are mine, as unique as any fingerprint.

Where some see darkness I might see hope, where others see imperfection I might feel beauty, others boring I may.feel excitement.

So I am going to embrace this journey of imperfection, make it mine, and try, yes just try, not always succeeding, to take images about not what I see but what I feel.

#imperfection #embraceimperfection #xrosspurpose #xrosspurposes #cityhall #london #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #photographyforwellbeing

Darkness. "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its so

Darkness.
"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." (Corrie Ten Boom.)

Last year I entered a number of photo competitions at my local photography club, and to be honest, I did quite well. I enjoyed the feedback, always constructive and encouraging. I entered to overcome my fears of failure, that my work was never good enough and to face some of my own insecurities
So why, this year, did I decide not to enter any?

Well for one reason really. This year I wanted to go back to snapping what I like. Sound odd? Not really. You see I found myself taking images and images in such a way as to do well in competitions.Composition, no burnt out areas, not messy etc.

But in doing so I was in danger of losing me. For me photos are not about what OTHERS SEE, but about what I FEEL.

I want to know that when I look back on an image later I will recall how I felt, what the weather was like, what were my emotions and reasons for taking it that way?

I don't want to think that won me a prize. Aiming to take for tomorrow was in danger of emptying me of the present. I know others might not always get my shots or understand my thinking but that's not why I want to take them.

Perhaps as I mature, gain confidence I will be able to do both, take for me at a given moment but enter them later. Perhaps, but for now I will find the peace, solace, excitement and more of taking what I feel right now.

#theshard #bnw #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #london #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer

Darkness. "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its so

Darkness.
"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." (Corrie Ten Boom.)

Last year I entered a number of photo competitions at my local photography club, and to be honest, I did quite well. I enjoyed the feedback, always constructive and encouraging. I entered to overcome my fears of failure, that my work was never good enough and to face some of my own insecurities
So why, this year, did I decide not to enter any?

Well for one reason really. This year I wanted to go back to snapping what I like. Sound odd? Not really. You see I found myself taking images and images in such a way as to do well in competitions.Composition, no burnt out areas, not messy etc.

But in doing so I was in danger of losing me. For me photos are not about what OTHERS SEE, but about what I FEEL.

I want to know that when I look back on an image later I will recall how I felt, what the weather was like, what were my emotions and reasons for taking it that way?

I don't want to think that won me a prize. Aiming to take for tomorrow was in danger of emptying me of the present. I know others might not always get my shots or understand my thinking but that's not why I want to take them.

Perhaps as I mature, gain confidence I will be able to do both, take for me at a given moment but enter them later. Perhaps, but for now I will find the peace, solace, excitement and more of taking what I feel right now.

#theshard #unlimitedlondon #mydarlinglondon #raw_bnw #thames #bnw #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #yourcityshotz #yourtravelshotz #london #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer

Second look. This benefit of seeing ... can come o

Second look.
This benefit of seeing ... can come only if you pause a while, extricate yourself from the maddening mob of quick impressions ceaselessly battering our lives, and look thoughtfully at a quiet image ... the viewer must be willing to pause, to look again, to meditate. (Dorothea Lange.)

It seems to me that many of the photographers I have so admired often have such skilled and insightful words to share. Dorothea Lange, as here, is no exception.

On a recent trip to London I was out late (or was it early morning) walking along the Thames and had packed up ready to walk back to the hotel, the Tube Stations now silent.

I walked past a sight I have seen many times, and that is the point, I nearly just walked past! Do you recognise it?

It is HMS Belfast a site familiar to all who have ever walked this part of London. But something made me pause, to look again and to consider if there was an image to be had. A quick switch to mono and focussing on a narrow part of the ship I had me some shots.

Move the camera a bit to the left or right and the light changed, falling in different angles, directions and strength of illumination.

Something as rigid, static and strong with such history seemed to play with the light as if partners grabbing the attention of passers by, or perhaps it just wanted the company of a few snappers to help it through the night?

I do wonder, what sites and opportunities I miss by not pausing, forming quick impressions as I walk by..sadly I wonder how often I and perhaps others do that with people we chance upon each day?

Perhaps this week, just once you might not find, but make the time to pause and look again.

#hmsbelfast #hmsbelfastship #thames
#thameslondon #xrosspurposes
#xrosspurpose #keynshamphotographicsociety #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #londonatnight #bestbnw #raw_bnw #rebel_bnw #blacknwhite #pause #secondlook #lightandshadow #londonphotocapture #unlimitedlondon #mydarlinglondon #yourtravelshotz

Street life "Big things are often just small thing

Street life
"Big things are often just small things that are noticed." -( Ed Kennedy)

Remember those days of lockdowns and alike? It seemed to me in those times we started to appreciate things we might never perhaps before had noticed. The NHS was the obvious, but toilet paper and of course delivery drivers.

Suddenly the everyday things we might not have seen as valuable became critical, part of our way to exist. Little things took on new value, indeed we learnt the big things were just the small things now noticed.

These thoughts go through the mind with these images. Based near Petticoat Lane I couldn't sleep but caught up with the street cleaning persons as I wandered around taking photos from insomnia induced alertness.

At this time of year I was drawn to the street cleaners working early hours and trying to clean up in the cold.

People fulfilling vital services but mainly unseen. So here is my point. How much do we really appreciate ourselves and how much we mean to others?

1. A smile when life is hard
2. A cup of tea as minutes move into hours without a break
3. A lift when the busses are late
4. The encouraging words written on another person's IG post

These little things matter more than we can ever know. Not big grand gestures but small things that often go unnoticed but can change a mood, alter a day and can have positive consequences beyond our imagination.

So today, give ourselves a pat on the back, not for the big things we have done, but the little things that mean so much more.

#petticoatlane #yourcityshotz #londonatnight
#streetcleaning #aldgate #london #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #visitlondon #streetphotography #londonstreets #nightphotography

Imprisoned Mind. "The past has no power over the p

Imprisoned Mind.
"The past has no power over the present moment." (Eckhart Tolle.)

I remember roughly 5 years ago taking some images in London that put me in stupid danger. Having recognised something was not quite right I booked myself into a couple of therapy sessions, or so I thought.

3 years later after weekly sessions I could only then realise how I was imprisoning myself because of my past. And the stupid thing was (1) I only imagined how bad I was (2) I felt those past matters were what defined who I was now.

I took stupid risks because my self worth was so low I felt I deserved to be hurt if it happened. Fortunately it never did.

But those thoughts about how useless, how much a failure, how dirty and grubby I was held me imprisoned as much as any prison wall, at least in my mind. Those thoughts chained me as tightly as any handcuff.

I had wanted to visit Shepton Mallet Prison museum for some time but was worried the metaphors would be too powerful.

I was delighted that the way my past was released through therapy, how strength was identified in my love of photography has now allowed me to visit and to do so recognising how far I have come and how much baggage has been released.

So I want to literally beg you if you are where I was, your past does not define you. Indeed, as I discovered most of it was in my mind anyway. Give yourself permission to see the strength, beauty and wonderful within you. Know you are unique and amazing. Get help if you need it, but most of all, love yourself, and set yourself free.

#bathmind #bristolmind #bristol247
#igers #walkinbristol #photographyforwellbeing #photographyformentalhealth #mentalhealth #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #yourtravelshotz #yourbathcity #sheptonmallet #sheptonmalletprison #prisons #imprisonment

Not seeing. "You’ll miss the best things if you

Not seeing.
"You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut." (Dr. Seuss.)

Please read before you judge me.

Followers will know I often seem adverse to posting pretty flowers, blossom and alike. You will also know I try to avoid images that have been posted many times before (normally so much better than I could do.)
And those familiar with Bristol and Bristol IG photographers will know this tree (Sam's tree) has probably been photographed as much as the Clifton Suspension Bridge and balloons combined.

So why am I breaking my own rules? Simply this.

For a number of years I lived in Brislington 5 mins from the tree. A good friend has a flat opposite the park it is in. My dentist of over 20 years had her practice in the adjacent road.
Arno's Vale cafe and cemetery is next door, a place I use regularly and have run courses.
And as I said there are dozens of images of this tree to be found on Social Media, next to a path I have trod many times.
And guess what? I have never seen it before!!

How, I don't know. Well perhaps I do. Sometimes I / we go through daily life missing the obvious, missing what we see everyday, as if the everyday has less value, less beauty, less to say.

Because it becomes over familiar we almost take it for granted, we do not see because our eyes, our minds and emotions are not alive to the wonders of the everyday.

I do confess, I wonder how much something similar happens in our friendships, relationships and associations? Do we take people for granted, failing to see what people are silently going through, or failing to appreciate the beauty they bring into our lives, just for being there? Let's never walk around with our eyes shut to what nature and people offer.

#xrosspurposes #xrosspurpose #igersbristol #walkinbristol #yourbristol #yourcityshotz #arnosvale #blossom #trees #bristol #unlimitedbritain #britianinbloom #southwest #bristol #bristolinbloom #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #photographyforwellbeing #photographyformentalhealth #igersbristol

True. "Being true to yourself is the greatest forc

True.
"Being true to yourself is the greatest force to uncover the soul." (Shiva Negi.)

Search the internet and there are some great quotes as to what photography is to some of the great exponents of our time and the past. I had been looking for the one to hang my flag upon but they all have something but something that didn't really sum it up for me.

So, I decided to try and come up with my own. Have you ever tried something similar, putting into just a few words what something so meaningful, healing, challenging, inspirational means to you?

This is far from perfect but it is the nearest I have written to date. Still not what it IS, but what I want it to BE.

Here goes, "An outward expression of an inner feeling or place."

For now this can keep me on track, to be true to myself to "uncover the soul."

So, before anyone looks at my images and thinks, poor depressing soul, let me say this. For me, I look for the beauty in the broken, the ignored, the passed by. There is beauty in so much more than the obvious. There is value in the broken. This has been my journey, my discovery that even when I was feeling broken , worthless and defeated there was a value I never saw and it is one I now embrace.

So, please these are not images to morn, but those to celebrate, not those to pass by but those to stop at, these are the images of the beautiful journey we walk through the ups and downs of life and the ones that say, no matter how you feel today, you have value, you are closer to winning your battles than you can know, just hang in there. Keep being you, in a world of fake or is you we need, so be true to yourself and discover your soul.

(Taken by the old post office building off North Street Bedminster)

#xrosspurposes #xrosspurposes #bedminster #bristollifemagazine
#bristolatnight #igersbristol #walkinbristol #visitbristol #yourcityshotz #yourbristol #value #kinsugi #wabisabi #cityatnight #nightphotography #photographyforwellbeing #photographyformentalhealth #bathmind #bristolmind #mindfulphotography #mindfulphotographer #bristol247

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Gallery

These are some personal favourite images that are available for purchase. Available as prints of different sizes, tiles or canvas, please contact me for for your requests and prices. Please note 10% of all sales, not just profits will go to support the most vulnerable young people and families in the slums of Kenya.

Welsh Back

Lockdown

Lillies

Moshi at Sunrise

Spooked

Aid Works

Inquisitive

Iceland More than the Northern Lights

Hope

Education The Future

Morocco Park and Ride

Men not at work

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