Anders Hviid-Haglund: Waves of Blue
Something beautiful to close the week
One of the wonders of social media is how easily it connects us with creative people. I learned this long ago and spend too much time online because I can’t get enough of these creative connections. I know many of you can relate.
One day, out of the blue last summer, a photographer messaged me on Instagram:
Hey Andy. One of your listeners here. I’m in Madison visiting family. Do you have time for a quick coffee tomorrow? I have a book I want to share with you. Regards. Anders
Coffee? Book? Photography? Of course, I was in. I gave Anders my address and invited him to the house for a front porch visit. This Danish photographer was a FlakPhoto reader with a family relative in Madison, Wisconsin, where I live. What are the odds?
I love meeting photographers and learning about their work. And it always feels good to hear someone likes what I do with FlakPhoto. Anders was — is! — a delightful fellow, and we got along nicely. We spent an hour or so telling our life stories, discussing photography and the online world, and sharing our views on the creative life.
If I could do this every day, I would. What a treat.
I always get down on social media, and for good reason — it’s problematic in many ways. Still, it’s important to remember how miraculous it is. These relationships are what matters. Meeting people like Anders makes social media worthwhile.
It's been a rocky few weeks in our world. We’ve been dealing with some health issues on the homefront, and it’s all been overwhelming, not unlike those roiling waves in Anders’s picture. Let’s face it: life is relentless. It just keeps going. And yet, I maintain my photography practice a little bit every day. Looking, seeing, thinking, writing.
I woke up early again today, and I've been reflecting on what it all means — it's impossible to answer that question easily. But I'm confident that committing ourselves to our creative practice helps with life’s ups and downs. It's a motivation and a distraction and, when we're lucky, a boost that lifts our spirits.
I'm grateful again for photography and my creative community. Ultimately, these things help ease the burden of life's challenges and bring joys we too often take for granted. Keeping things in perspective is critical.
The best part about producing FlakPhoto is collaborating with photographers. Words can't convey the way imagemakers inspire me. I love what you do, folks. Thank you for sharing your work with me week after week. It means so much. I appreciate you.
One more thing…
The photographer I’ve been talking about is Anders Hviid-Haglund, a Copenhagen-based artist and imagemaker. These pictures are from Anders’s Waves of Blue project. Make some time to look at these images when you can. They’re beautiful, yes, but also calming and meditative and very much worth your attention. I hope you enjoy them. Take care, friends, and have a wonderful weekend.
Great story and great images!
I love these photos. As living on a boat, I also take a lot of waves-photos. Never can get enough from this subrect.