darkness
noun
the partial or total absence of light.
reprise
verb
repeat (a piece of music or a performance)."he reprises his role as the vigilante architect"
So we’ve arrived at the fourth episode of the podcast already. I don’t know where time is running away going but I hope you’ve enjoyed all the episodes so far.
One of my favourite movie quotes is from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises. The line is delivered by Tom Hardy as Bane and goes as follows; “Ahhh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!”
I spent way too much time at university doing Bane impressions with my friends. He was a definitive villain of my adolescence and I still do Bane impressions to this day. As much as I love the film and quote I’m not a fan of darkness.
I’m a summer baby. I’m a child of the light. Sunshine is my kin. I’m currently enjoying the long days which summer provides. Warmth isn’t always a prerequisite of summer in the U.K. but it’s doing ok this year.
Any time I’ve disparaged darkness or winter on Instagram one man consistently comes to their defence, Jolade Olusanya. Perpetually dressed in all black Jolade is effectively a man of the Night’s Watch. So when I was searching for winter’s defender he was the person I contacted.
Jolade is one of the most talented artists you will come across. Writer, poet, photographer, director, he’s a special artist. We quoted him in the previous podcast episode!
Recording with Jolade was a revolution for me as he opened up my thoughts on light and darkness. At the time of writing ‘darkness’ I hadn’t started venturing into photography. By the time of recording this podcast episode I had.
As a photographer Jolade is always concerned with light and always intrigued by darkness. The way he contextualises this to other parts of his life makes for a very interesting conversation. I thoroughly enjoyed recording this episode and I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to it.
darkness
noun
the partial or total absence of light.
When people tell me their favourite season’s winter the first thing that comes to mind is a lyric from Lauryn Hill’s Forgive Them Father.
A friend once said, and I found to be true
That everyday people, they lie to God too
So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?
Winter is a bottom tier season and though some claim otherwise, deep down we all know it’s true. When you think of winter you think of cold weather but that’s not even my biggest gripe with the abominable season. My biggest gripe with winter is that it’s dark for so long during the day.
Bun the darkness. Darkness fi dead. I’m a summer baby and I love summer for good reason. In the U.K. where I reside we average around sixteen hours of daylight in the month of June. Once we get to December it drops to around eight hours of daylight. Within six months we lose half our daylight. Let’s not even speak about the general greyness of the frequent cloudy days in winter too. It’s asinine.
I may be a dark skinned black man but I’m a child of light not darkness. I don’t know about you but I find life so much harder to live in the dark. Earlier in the week I was filming for a project exploring mental health and masculinity from a black male artistic lens. It was directed by the talented Damilola Lemomu and I really enjoyed myself.
Filming required me to be in Peckham for 8.20am, which meant I was up at 6am and out of my house well before the sun rose. It wasn’t that much earlier than when I normally wake up, but leaving my house in the darkness highlighted something to me.
Comparative to summer, my mood in the mornings is drastically different. The absence of sunlight when I wake up affects me. Everything is harder in the morning without a little bit of sun. Even when the heating is on, without light it feels that bit colder. Generally everything just has a sadder feel to it.
I ought to be used to this by now, I’m a quarter century deep in U.K. weather! I know I don’t like winter, I know U.K. winter isn’t for me. It’s not like I don’t know when winter is coming either. It’s hardly a surprise attack when it’s being launched on me yearly at the same time. I shouldn’t let it catch me off guard and slump me the way it does.
Exposure to sunlight is linked to the brain releasing serotonin, serotonin is associated with boosting mood. At night darker light triggers the brain to make melatonin, a hormone responsible for helping us to sleep. From this it’s not difficult to understand why winter can be so much more difficult than summer mood wise. Seasonal affective disorder is a real thing for a lot of people.
Understanding something and dealing with it are very different. I have a decent understanding of the seasons but every year the lack of sun in winter rattles me. I think that’s ok.
The sun is a truly beautiful thing that directs and influences so much in our existence on this planet. Nothing can truly prepare you for its absence. I’m not going anywhere this December but it might be time to start planning a getaway in January. I can’t stop the sun from leaving, but I can chase it when it goes.
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