The missingness was there.

Belfast. What can I say.

You are good.

If Belfast city is a tapestry, constantly being woven, then the creatives are the ones threading the needle, keeping everything together. Sometimes you meet people, and no words or thoughts can ever explain what it is, but they give you a glimpse into their beautiful, hauntingly, simply unintelligible essence. One of those wonderful beings is having an exhibition at Belfast Exposed and I encourage you to go see it if you can.

On my way to the Healing through Photography conference each day, I passed by an image of a mermaid being rescued by a deep sea diver which was painted on the iconic red brick of Belfast on Dunbar Street. There’s much art work on the walls of this vibrant city, but for me, this is a story that connects backwards through time, a story that wants to come through every life. A captivating and wildly original story about finding a voice and the healing power of friendship and love. A delve into the deeper iconography of mermaids suggests that crossing a threshold as un-crossable as that between air and water isn’t as straightforward as it seems.

The hauntingly sad Hans Christian Andersen story that inspired Disney couldn’t be further from wish-fulfilment. The mermaid falls in love with a prince she rescues from a storm. But in exchange for her legs, she has her tongue cut out and loses her voice. Even though the magic grants her a pair legs, walking on them is agony. And though the prince is fond of the transformed mermaid, he loves someone else.

A little grim?

But back to the conference. When it comes to photography, everyone here understands how to unlock the absolute joy of this art form. Following our art form, no matter what that is, means following our intuition and while it can seem scary and grim sometimes, our intuition rarely leads us astray. Maybe our idealisms or our reasonings are not dead on, but our feeling is. That’s what’s brought me here, once again.

And I can’t wait to do it all again next year. Thank you Belfast Exposed.

hope & love,

Michelle.