20. On the creative potential of walking and wandering alone
Talking through my photobook Crocus Valley and its connection to walking solo
Here’s something a little different. I’ve been meaning to write about the link between wandering and adventuring alone, and creativity.
This year, I had a photobook published about my hometown of Croydon, three years after the publisher initially contacted me. Leading to that moment were many walks and moments – not all solo, but most. And in the time, since around September 2020, this only increased thanks to the pandemic.
I can probably say that this book wouldn’t exist without all that walking alone; it’s a core component of the process of the photography that came together as the book, and that “solo protagonist” perspective resonates within the narrative too, I think.
Walking, and the solitude of doing so alone, has been often discussed, researched, and celebrated, particularly when it comes to artists or creative practitioners.
This project had me walking around alone a lot. Commuting or transiting through my local area, on the way into London for work way back when. Walking around town, usually on the way to or on the way back from somewhere. And ‘Crocus Valley’ is the result of these many walks and wanderings alone.
A little more on the project itself. Crocus Valley is a love letter to southern London Borough of Croydon, my home. It’s a purposefully unexpected glimpse and romantic view of this cultural and generational patchwork quilt of a place that’s supposedly empty of such romance. Scenes that are rarely, if ever, depicted in the media or spoken about.
Many of those walks helped me to discover Croydon’s duality; its abundant nature and not-so-hidden beauty in the urban and typically ugly places and spaces. An example – there are photographs from a walk in gorgeous countryside with incredible viewpoints over the sprawling city, and moments from walking by a dual carriageway in thick winter fog on the way to pick up my car from its service.
There was a trigger moment. It was the day I escaped to a place called Roundshaw Downs the day after a ten-day stint at home isolating and recovering from COVID, just before Christmas 2021.
I walked to the micro nature reserve, an unexpected place that runs alongside the always-busy Purley Way which has IKEA Croydon on one side and the nearest route to the M25 on the other. I used to play football here in the under-11s girls team, then, much older, I passed by it many times on the way to the nearby shisha cafe with friends. More unexpected yet, I’ve driven down the dual carriageway next to this place hundreds, maybe thousands of time.
This time, in 2021, I went in by foot, alone, in the thickest fog I’ve ever seen in this country, maybe my life. I walked slowly, entranced by the feeling of wandering through my own little world – not another person in view for a long time, and barely and sound from the road. Only the dark streaks of crows in the greyest of grey fogs. Then, a black shape on the horizon. I get closer, and I see that the shape is a cow –a bull! Then I realise there are more. What the hell are a bunch of bulls doing in Croydon? It was a moment of pure awe and joy. High up on a mountain with no civilisation for miles? Sure. In a field next to a dual carriageway in Croydon? Never.
It was a turning point for the way I viewed my home, and likely a trigger for how focused on the abundant natural world and unexpected contrasts of this southern London borough I became – and the direction of the book, ultimately.
During the launch of the book this year, this led to guided photography walks to celebrate some of the spaces I photographed, local areas of natural beauty that many locals didn’t and don’t know about, including myself up until about 2017. It’s interesting to think back and understand how the project essentially came into being from and because of this time alone, walking, transiting, and wandering.
Now for the shameless self-promotion: Crocus Valley is available to purchase and makes a great Christmas gift 🎁 It’s a difficult time for so many of us at the moment, if you like the look of my work and would like to support in any way, a comment or share is greatly appreciated.
And if you are interested in purchasing the book or finding out more, you can do so here:
Tipping jar
Enjoyed this newsletter and would like to share the love? You can buy me a coffee ☕
You can also support me for free by sharing this newsletter! Forward it to a friend you think would enjoy it too, or share it on socials.
A bit about me
Hey! I’m Ameena – a writer and photographer based in London. I love to tell stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world.