I see and yet I cannot find (Asim Rafiqui)
Written by Ciara LeemingI feel off-balance, and unable to keep up with the pace of the life unfolding in front of me. There are a million obvious images, but none that feel right to a frame. I see and yet I cannot find. I struggle to look, but yet I sense that I am not looking in the right places. Or I just miss….
Is it proper for a professional to admit that he is constantly burdened by a sense that even after nine years as a professional he continues to have moments that don’t even lift him beyond an amateur or hobbyist, or the dilettante?
…an interviewer once asked me why I loved photography and I responded that it wasn’t photography that I loved, but the act of searching for and making an image. After that I was largely indifferent to the rest of it. And so I remind myself that like all great loves, like all obsessions, the struggle is what makes it so compelling and not the goal itself.
National Geographic photographer Asim Rafiqui was given the 2009 Aftermath Grant for his project The Idea of India. He’s also a fantastic writer. I highly recommend you check out his blog, which is one of my favourites and is about much more than photography.
Discussion (6 Comments)
HOLY COW, what an excellent and talent writer and human. Thank you so much for this introduction to Asim.
David,
thanks for flagging this up. I totally agree, this is a refreshing blog. Asim is intelligent and very human; the two don’t often go together.
duck
You want to thank Ciara for that…great find indeed….wonderful stuff, thanks Ciara.
stick it on RSS I say. Every post is an education. I’m a big big fan – and his photography’s fab as well.
grrr
no growling now….
sorry David. I’ve stopped