Ways to See: Imaginary Stories

"What is now proved, was once only imagined"

William Blake

With a descriptive approach inspired by George Perec's Life: A User's Manual, we enjoy envisioning the probable scenarios behind some of the situations we notice doing our ordinary daily movements. 

 

 

 

 

 

We conjure up entire narratives about some sights. Some sights demand that we do. They speak out, as if asking us;

" CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"

Quite often, latent stories speak louder to us than the sight itself.

 

Credit: Yasumi Location: Victoria Park, London

Credit: Yasumi Location: Victoria Park, London

Credit: Yasumi Location: Bethnal Green, London

Credit: Yasumi Location: Bethnal Green, London

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagining is a Super Ordinary way of seeing, in that it bridges the gap between what we notice and what we did not see. It adds depth and background. It adds magic. It makes things more interesting.

 

Credit: Yasumi Location: Hackney Wick, London

Credit: Yasumi Location: Hackney Wick, London

Credit: Yasumi Location: Hackney Wick, London

Credit: Yasumi Location: Hackney Wick, London

To many, imagining the circumstances behind each of the sights presented above may seem juvenile or at best, a basic creative device used best by writers and other creatives.

However, to us at least, imagination is an important visual apparatus that has the ability to enrich our thinking and enliven our mundane experiences. 

If you think of imagination as an active ingredient in thinking, then our casual interpretation seems so small as we realise that imagination's applications has far greater capabilities. It widens the horizons of possibility. Many great inventions, theories and discoveries all begun as imaginings. 

Our creative urge defines us from other creatures. To be able to create, we need first, the ability to imagine!