Just as the snow started to really melt, the temperatures dropped again and we're back to a similar weather. With the previous night producing more snow that filled the streets yet again. Just after the city had finished complaining about the icy pathways that kept everyone on the brink of slipping over every time they went outside. This was one of the reasons I also haven't been getting out much. Walking with every step being so slow and cautious isn't so fun. Nor is seeing the icicles dangling above your head from doorways and whatever they have formed from. Some reaching over a metre in length. It's not the most ideal environment for photography, that's for sure. But it's also the cold air which pierces through your layers. I have some winter clothes but nothing quite seems to land for the hands and the legs, which grow colder and colder the more I am outdoors.
I'm not one to spent time inside a cafe much when I'm out with the camera. I never really seem to stop beyond searching for a drinking fountain, which tend to be everywhere in Armenia. In summer I would take a little snack with me and sit somewhere, but again it's not really the environment for sitting on a cold snowed-over bench! I have missed getting out a bit more though. I felt my mind clearing again. The stresses that had been building up as of late that I was growing more and more aware of; the usual stuff around life. Working hard enough? Enough money coming in? Am I happy? The usual questions that plague the modern mind. I try to not think about such things so much, but lately I've been so ambitious and preparing for some upcoming shoots that the gear question comes into mind again. I want more! But I don't mind working hard towards things, I like that challenge sometimes. I think we all need it from time to time.
And today's walk was a literal breath of fresh air. The feeling of that cold air in the lungs healing me. The exhaling that would be visible under the artificial lighting. The previous air pollution having mostly left. That freeing of the mind that I get when I just have the camera with me and only really think of what's around me in the moment. The old Soviet architecture. The many faces that pass me in the street, and their stories. The cultural and traditional aspects of Armenia which are found throughout. Old parks, old monuments, new monuments, and the ever changing landscape that is a capital city. I've been loving the moments I've had with my Mir 1v, but I still haven't shot on it nearly as much as I'd have liked to. The light isn't always the best lately too, with many overcast days. Usually those are nice for muted tones, but the light still bounces around from the ice on the ground, or the snow that remains. Making for very bright reflective environments.
Like a moth I feel drawn by the artificial light as the sun goes down. It's where the remaining attention for photography resides. While there is more light than there was a few weeks ago, the cold evenings and nights going into minus have everyone running off to any place that offers warmth. Cafes are stacked. Remaining Christmas markets are full of people grouped up around the stalls as they sip coffee and snack on whatever hot fast food is available. Yet, as always, there's those natives which somehow seem immune to the cold. Wearing far less than others. As if the autumn never ended. Part of me wishes it hadn't. Part of me loves the snow. Part of me just wants to get outside!
