Ten Years

"How we long to be revealed, knowing then we might be healed"
                                                                                   Mary Chapin Carpenter.

 Image by Howard & Kay Nowlan

Who would have thought, when I made those first, tentative steps to take images some ten years ago, that it would lead to something so special,
but it surely did.

Kay and I had been living in our new home for some nine months when I asked to seriously engage for the first time with what had always been her vocation, but much had changed that year, for not only had we re-located, but Kay had been diagnosed with cancer, which had brought us even closer in our lives and our sharing of precious days.

We'd arranged for a wonderful model named Natasha to come and work with us for that first project - a studio shoot in the morning, and an outdoor session on a nearby beach in the afternoon. I was so nervous that I completely missed the studio part of the day, but Natasha and Kay encouraged me to jump in for the afternoon, and I'm so very glad that I did - it was a critical moment which nurtured a vocation which has strengthened and blossomed over this last decade.






Images by Kay Nowlan



I was able to 'crown' and celebrate this gift this weekend. This started with my receiving my certificate of Higher Education in the Creative Arts from the new University of Buckinghamshire for my three years of study in Photography with the Open College of Arts. Kay would have been, I suspect, both perhaps surprised and delighted.
The second joy was returning again to Cornwall to work with the group of artists who have become very close in the last few years, and my Muse, Magenta. It was exactly the way to encapsulate what the last decade has meant in terms of artistic expression and the richness which working in this field (in terms of friendship and finding beauty amidst the often painful realities of life) has provided. You can view the results of the project here.

Image by Howard Nowlan

I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has worked with me in this field over this time. It has been a great joy and a genuine pleasure to create and share such moments with you all. Many thanks, especially to Natasha and Magenta, who have supported and encouraged me by giving of their skills, their beauty, to many of my projects.

Let's all keep enjoying the wonder.