The Reward is the Journey

Self-portrait (truck) 2012 A spontaneous trip to the small but perfectly formed gallery threw up a wonderful treat for us to enjoy.  The photographs were stunning.  It was an exhibition I had not planned to see, but am delighted to have done so. Jess' work speaks volumes to me without saying a word.  Her engagement with her subjects gently invites her audience's participation without making any demands.   It is powerful and provocative, threatening nothing except a preconception.  It is challenging but throws down no gauntlets.  It is as though she intended any consequences to be thoroughly conscious and wholly consensual. Art is the sex of the imagination George Jean Nathan Jess and Vanessa, 2013 The images are, I think, a wonderfully colourful depiction of gender, sexuality and love.  The fluidity of each concept is given vast space to find both shape and form, and you can make of that what you will.  I stoo...

I was sad and probably slightly relieved to discover it was no longer available on iPlayer.  I had read the glowing reviews of the BBC's adaptation of Lisa Lynch 's book of the same name.  I didn't expect it to feature as one of my in-flight movie choices but am glad it did... Sheridan Smith as Lisa Lynch in 'The C-Word' (2015) Lisa's journey was hers and hers alone.  Yet there are clear resemblances to a journey of someone I hold very dear, whose  own courage and graceful determination continue to humble me on a daily basis.   Watching the 90 minute feature sitting amongst strangers, each busily entertaining themselves as we crossed the Atlantic was an experience I am unlikely to forget in a hurry.  My anonymity meant that my tears fell silently and, I imagine, largely unnoticed.  And yet it felt difficult: I wanted to insist everyone behold this wonderful portrayal, and soak up the many reminders it contains for those of us who live beyo...