A case for capturing what you feel.

At Seymour, we believe that a definite universal reality does not exist and that everything is in fact filtered by individual perception.

Cops know this phenomenon intimately. Interviewed after a crime, a purse snatching for example, each observer on the street will report differently about the attacker.

“He was wearing a blue baseball cap.”

“He had a red sweatshirt on.”

“He was blonde.”

Witnesses are unequivocal about what they saw. Yet. They are all wrong.  The guy had dark hair, and was wearing a red hat and a black jacket.

How is this possible? It’s possible because reality is essentially just our perception of reality.

Now obviously, we all operate within the same general parameters of existence, we’re not suggesting a science fiction scenario, but we believe the world you see is more about your own perception of it, than you often realize.

Try this test, next time you’re going out for a walk in the city.  Before you leave the house, pick a color and stare at the color for a long time.  That bright blue pillow on your sofa will do just fine. Take it in your hands and stare at it. Really take in the color, think to your self: blue, blue, blue. Then, head out on that walk. As you’re heading out, keep picturing that blue in your mind. Once you hit the street, close your eyes and open them again to store the memory, as if you were clicking enter on a keyboard.

We guarantee that your eye will be drawn to blue EVERYWHERE throughout your walk. It’s the same walk you take to work every day, but today you’ll notice blue everywhere in places that you never did before: signs, flowers, bicycles, scarves, cars. Yep, this is the same phenomenon as only hearing sad songs on the radio when you’re sad.

The world is not bending to your mood. You are bending the world to your mood.

Seymour is devoted to helping you to find your true creative voice and we think that the most effective and powerful art is created when the artist has managed to directly convey his or her true essence; so how about trying a project in which you try to capture your true essence?

Next time you have a day off, why not embark on a photography project, but instead of taking snapshots of what you see, take snapshots of what you feel.

When you get up in the morning gauge your state of mind. Are you sad? Nervous? Excited? Tired? Focus on the feeling that seems the most true to you that day and feel it deeply. Then go out and take pictures of it. Trust us, if you are in pain you will see pain everywhere, if you are happy you will see joy everywhere, etc.

Try to photograph every manifestation of your emotion that you come across.

We’re willing to bet that when you get home and look at photographs from the day, they’ll be among the best you’ve ever taken.