Mythos

“I’m usually working on my own mythology, my own realm of created characters. Stories in mythology inspire me, though I may not be conscious of it.” – Anne Rice

I always feel there are certain images I take that are pivotal to my development as a photographer. They act as springboards that help spearhead some of my favorite work. I recently took an image of this massive old tree at the Blithewold Mansion. With the way I composed the image, its massive trunk and branches looked as if they were pushing up the sky, giving the impression of a strong life force and massive energy is at play. I have been going steadily to Blithewold for years, in years past, I would not have been able to compose for the image this way even though I have been impressed with its massive size and grand gesture. By chance, the maintenance team at the mansion decided to trim some of the branches off the tree early this year. When I step underneath the tree nowadays, instead of feeling I stand underneath a giant umbrella, I can see the light coming through in certain sections where some of the branches were trimmed. This gave me the opportunity to photograph the tree in other ways that was not possible before.

After I spent more time looking at the edited image and processed my experience, it suddenly dawned on me I had this inclination of seeing the world with the lens of mythical power. Looking beyond the aesthetics appeal of the objects I photograph, I sometimes sense there is some unexplainable power beneath the surface, and they need not be blunt force as we associate normally with the word “power”, to my mind, it can also be mystery or energy associated with the unseen.

Myths are a part of every culture in the world and are used to explain the natural phenomena, where people came from and how their civilization developed. Why things happen as the way the do. At the most basic level, myths offer comfort by giving a sense of order and meaning to what can sometimes seem to be a chaotic world. I find myself particularly drawn to those mythical stories telling the rites and passages of our ancestors, the origin of humans of the world, the gods, supernatural beings and heroes with superhuman, usually supernatural powers.

According to twentieth century psychiatrist Carl Jung, myth is a necessary aspect of the human psyche which needs to find meaning and order in a world which often presents itself as chaotic and meaningless. Jung writes:

The psyche, as a reflection of the world and man, is a thing of such infinite complexity that it can be observed and studied from a great many sides. It faces us with the same problem that the world does: because a systematic study of the world is beyond our powers, we have to content ourselves with mere rules of thumb and with aspects that particularly interest us. Everyone makes for himself his own segment of world and constructs his own private system, often with air-tight compartments, so that after a time it seems to him that he has grasped the meaning and structure of the whole. But the finite will never be able to grasp the infinite. (23-24)

The infinite Jung references is the numinous quality of the mysterious, holy, and powerful which provides the underlying allure of mythological tales and themes because it gives a final meaning to human existence. The concept of something greater and more powerful than oneself gives one the hope of direction and protection in an uncertain world. This tree image has given me the impetus to explore more of the unknown, and perhaps the spiritual underpinnings I can bring to my photography.