Matt Clark Photography
Down at the Beech
Wow, I didn't make a single post in 2016, and here's why.
It's been a long and horrible year in my life, the worst I have ever had. I have been struggling with a mysterious illness since last February, which basically involved swollen and painful joints, numbness and tingling as well as dizziness and fatigue. Things got worse and worse until about June when I had to stop working (I am a self employed gardener) and devote myself full time to my health problems. I have not received a definite diagnosis yet, but after seeing many GPs and a couple of rheumatologists they think it is an autoimmune condition called psoriatic arthritis.
To be honest, it's been a devastating time. Not only the illness but the loss of my work and I have only just been able to cope with getting through the day for long periods of time. The drugs they recommend for the condition suppress the immune system and are highly toxic and dangerous and were developed as chemotherapy drugs just after the second world war. Most of these drugs have serious side effects including frequent infections, increased cancer risk, bone marrow damage, mouth sores etc etc. Sounds tempting huh?
Needless to say, I have sought out natural therapies and after about six months I am finally back on my feet and about 80% recovered. Not. Fucking. Nice.
Anyway, as you can imagine photography has been put to one side while I get myself sorted out, but I have started taking little trips out again and managed a few images from my local beech woods a few days ago. Conditions weren't great so I tried a bit of intentional camera movement to bring some life to the images. Pretty pleased with the results. Bring on 2017 :)
Down at the Beech
Wow, I didn't make a single post in 2016, and here's why.
It's been a long and horrible year in my life, the worst I have ever had. I have been struggling with a mysterious illness since last February, which basically involved swollen and painful joints, numbness and tingling as well as dizziness and fatigue. Things got worse and worse until about June when I had to stop working (I am a self employed gardener) and devote myself full time to my health problems. I have not received a definite diagnosis yet, but after seeing many GPs and a couple of rheumatologists they think it is an autoimmune condition called psoriatic arthritis.
To be honest, it's been a devastating time. Not only the illness but the loss of my work and I have only just been able to cope with getting through the day for long periods of time. The drugs they recommend for the condition suppress the immune system and are highly toxic and dangerous and were developed as chemotherapy drugs just after the second world war. Most of these drugs have serious side effects including frequent infections, increased cancer risk, bone marrow damage, mouth sores etc etc. Sounds tempting huh?
Needless to say, I have sought out natural therapies and after about six months I am finally back on my feet and about 80% recovered. Not. Fucking. Nice.
Anyway, as you can imagine photography has been put to one side while I get myself sorted out, but I have started taking little trips out again and managed a few images from my local beech woods a few days ago. Conditions weren't great so I tried a bit of intentional camera movement to bring some life to the images. Pretty pleased with the results. Bring on 2017 :)