Alastair Thain, photographer

I chatted over lunch to internationally acclaimed photographer and artist Alastair Thain about society, education and how imagination can change the world. His latest project is a manifesto for empathy entitled ’10 Studies of Love and Everyday Cruelty’.

See full interview at www.imaginomics.org.uk

©Alexandra Dao

©Alexandra Dao

“It seems to me that creativity, empathy, consideration and the value of social connections should be the foundations of education”
— Alastair Thain
“Whether you are an artist or a genocidal imperialist or a religious leader, you are driven to find a sense of meaning and purpose.”
— Alastair Thain
“I don’t think you’ll ever meet anyone who shines creatively who hasn’t been encouraged to pursue a passion through love, affection, happiness and joy”
— Alastair Thain
“There is something inherent in British culture that is both very individualistic and very creative. And this is despite the elites and the government, not because of them.”
— Alastair Thain
“Every human being has the possibility to improve and develop themselves and society”
— Alastair Thain
“Let’s understand that all our social constructs are imagined and synthetic, and only exist in our brains. Let’s see the world as it really is, a precious gift.”
— Alastair Thain
“The free-thinking evolution of creativity from early childhood will be enormously beneficial at helping us create realities driven by the full beauty of our consciousness”
— Alastair Thain
“It’s absolutely crucial that what we imagine is as informed and creative as possible, and the things we choose to build our cultures from are grounded in positive, pro-social ideas.”
— Alastair Thain
“The way to challenge and build better societies is to be liberated to ask the questions that are really difficult, the iconoclastic questions. That’s what real creativity is about.”
— Alastair Thain

© Alastair Thain

The art of Sarah Moon

“Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists, worlds more different one from the other than those which revolve in infinite space, worlds which, centuries after the extinction of the fire from which their light first emanated, whether it is called Rembrandt or Vermeer, send us still each one its special radiance.” Marcel Proust

Gaylene Gould, Cultural Explorer

I spent morning talking to Gaylene Gould, Cultural Explorer and Head of BFI Cinemas and Events about storytelling, about using imagination to explore vulnerability and kindness, and about making space for creativity. See full interview at Imaginomics

 © Alexandra Dao

 © Alexandra Dao

“The thing that most pulls me through life is to understand who I am as a human being”
— Gaylene Gould
“If you are looking at creativity and imagination, you are driven by curiosity rather than goals. Creative endeavours are driven by exploration rather than outcomes”
— Gaylene Gould
“There needs to be an environment where you can feel that it’s ok to be curious and to simply explore”
— Gaylene Gould
“Everything is creativity in childhood, it’s how you navigate the world. And we all still have that.”
— Gaylene Gould
“What the imagination can do is condition us to spend our time watching and reading about really kind, compassionate people, and then believing that the world really is a kind place.”
— Gaylene Gould
“What we need to do is build more space for creativity – going for walks, looking out of the window, taking our minds off the task – and then the ideas start flowing.”
— Gaylene Gould
“Compassion really helps me. There is nothing that can erase the fact that we are human beings who feel pain. Life is hard and our feelings will get hurt – how can we move with some grace through this?”
— Gaylene Gould
“I think creativity is about honouring your own unique voice.”
— Gaylene Gould
“We have to make kinder stories.”
— Gaylene Gould

Spring passes...

The end of spring in the social garden...

This oasis of beauty in south east London is my neigbours work of art. I will be featuring it a lot over the seasons. He has an eye for form and is very aware of colour; a lot of artifice has gone into his wild garden. It is full of big arty drifts of colour and self seeders. He is inspired by Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd and Mirabel Osler's 'A Gentle Plea For Chaos'.

Robin Stevens, author

My morning at the British Library taking a journey of discovery into the imagination of Robin Stevens, author of best-selling children’s detective series ‘Murder Most Unladylike’. See imaginomics.org.uk for my full interview

©Alexandra Dao

©Alexandra Dao

“For years, I thought that writing was telepathic.”
— Robin Stevens
“Because I was a kid who was on her own a lot, I got to experience many other things and connect with other people through reading”
— Robin Stevens
“As a child, my imaginary friends were simply the stories I was creating, and I became part of the story.”
— Robin Stevens

Fragile...

More from my Angelique tulips...

"The unreal is more powerful than the real...it's only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives. That's the only lasting thing you can create." - Chuck Palahniuk

©Alexandra Dao

©Alexandra Dao

Tulipomania

... walking amongst the tulips with the early evening sun. These are from my favourite social garden here in south east London

“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower. You didn’t have to struggle to make your face different than anyone else’s on earth. It just is. You are unique because you were created that way. Look at little children in kindergarten. They’re all different without trying to be. As long as they’re unselfconsciously being themselves, they can’t help but shine. It’s only later, when children are taught to compete, to strive to be better than others, that their natural light becomes distorted.” // Marianne Williamson

A thousand blossoms...

.. at Hampton Court

“. . . at this season, the blossom is out in full now, there in the west early. It's a plum tree, it looks like apple blossom but it's white, and looking at it, instead of saying "Oh that's nice blossom" ... last week looking at it through the windo…

“. . . at this season, the blossom is out in full now, there in the west early. It's a plum tree, it looks like apple blossom but it's white, and looking at it, instead of saying "Oh that's nice blossom" ... last week looking at it through the window when I'm writing, I see it is the whitest, frothiest, blossomest blossom that there ever could be, and I can see it. Things are both more trivial than they ever were, and more important than they ever were, and the difference between the trivial and the important doesn't seem to matter. But the nowness of everything is absolutely wondrous, and if people could see that, you know. There's no way of telling you; you have to experience it, but the glory of it, if you like, the comfort of it, the reassurance ... not that I'm interested in reassuring people - bugger that. The fact is, if you see the present tense, boy do you see it! And boy can you celebrate it.” // Dennis Potter

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