Kat Eye Studio

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Travel Shifts

What is your idea of “travel?”

Maybe it’s fun, seeking experiences that help you enjoy the moment.
Maybe it’s relaxation, sitting with your feet up looking at a beautiful view.
Maybe it’s exploration, experiencing something new and different.

For me, “travel” is learning. There is something about being out of my usual environment and in different places that opens me to new things. I’m more aware and observant of my surroundings and of myself. Travel brings moments of fun, relaxation and exploration, but it also brings moments of insight and clarity. Especially travelling alone, where you don’t have someone to turn to every moment of the day. I had to become comfortable with myself.

Off to Work, King’s Cross Station

I’m always seeking to understand new things, to grow and expand my point of view. Maybe that’s why travel has become so important to me — the learning. Maybe that’s why this trip was so important to me… It wasn’t just about teaching the on location workshops and connecting with friends. It was about connecting with myself, my art and exploring what comes next. I didn’t expect or seek those things, but they came along the way.

Looking Back, near Brick Lane

Some of the shifts will take a while to make themselves known. But there were some shifts that were more obvious, because they were visible in my photographs. Instead of always seeking the empty view within the frame, I started to capture people. Not very many of my images included people, but more of them did than ever before. And, funny thing, these images are the ones that stuck in my mind the most. I had to go through my photographs and find them first. Share them first.

Smoke Break, St. Pancras Station

Part of me wonders why and part of me knows to just go with it. It will all become clear with time.

Into the Light, Westminster Underground Station

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Sign-Inspired Art

We’re one week into this month’s Exploring with a Camera! Are you seeing signs everywhere? We are fed a constant stream of information through them, and yet we may not consciously notice them until we really start to look.

One of my favorite types of signs are the little icons of people doing various things. Every culture, maybe even every city, throughout Europe seems to have their own take on how to warn people with these little icons. This one is from the subway system in Lisbon, Portugal, warning you to not get caught in the doors. He’s a bit stiff, don’t you think?

The best part of this little icon is the art it inspired! In Lisbon, all of the subway stations have a different artistic theme. The Martin Moriz station had marble knights lining the walls, as if they were waiting for someone to say, “Charge!” But tucked at one end of the station, almost as if it was an inside joke to see if anyone would notice, one of the knights was peeking out of the wall in the same manner as the warning icon. I caught a glimpse of it out the window as we flew past one day, and had to go back and this bit of humorous art.

Sign-inspired art. I love it.

What kind of signs are you finding? Have you noticed how much they already show up in your photographs? Share your own sign-inspired art and visit the art that’s been shared so far. Lots of fun!


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Bye, Bye Blogger

Exit of a Chicago el train station

Come Monday, The Kat Eye View of the World will have a new home! It’s time to move the blog and everything else located here to a new location, integrated into my new website: www.kateyestudio.com. Over the weekend I’ll be doing all of the final work to launch the new site and the blog in its new location on Monday. I’m so excited to share it with you all!!

If I do everything correctly with the changes and redirects, this should be fairly transparent to everyone. Not being a full-time web person however, there are likely to be a couple of bumps along the way. You can’t make a change as big as this one without going through some growing pains. I hope you’ll stick with me as I learn the ropes and settle in.

I thought I might be a bit sad, leaving this cozy little place on Blogger that I created over time. But since the words and images go with me, and the new site fits so much better (room to breathe!), the sadness hasn’t materialized. I just feel excitement and a smidge of nervousness for the transition, hoping it all goes ok.

Time to head out! See you on the other side.

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To Keep You Safe

One thing that I don’t share often are images of signs. There are so many different signs here in Europe that you just don’t see in the US, many of them with these pseudo stick figures displaying unacceptable behaviors. It’s amazing how much you can convey with a simple little psuedo-stick figure. Maybe it’s because there are so many cultures and languages all mixed up here, a picture is the most effective way to convey information quickly. Today’s image is one example that I found very amusing, from a German train station. If common sense weren’t enough to keep you from the edge of the platform, and if you don’t read German, here you go. Now you’re safe.

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Radiating Lines

In the Avigunda Tibidabo station in Barcelona, the Line 7 subway comes in. I loved the radiating lines and emptiness of the station. The black and white really draws your eye to the lines. The chairs, the walls, the lights, the tracks. I love the station signs on the wall that tell you the location, the city and location within the city if you know enough, but it could be any station, any where. The radiating lines that are echoed in the subway map of the city, spreading outward to the edges.

The funny part is, this train came into the station, sat there for a few minutes and then left without letting anyone board. During that time the station filled up with people and the opportunity for this shot disappeared. It was as if the train came down the runway, posing for the beauty shots with perfect timing like a good model would. Thanks!

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Time

This image says a lot to me. It’s all about quiet, time passing in silence, waiting for the next train to come along. I’m feeling contemplative today about time. It’s December 1st already! Where did the year go? It seems a lifetime ago that we rung in 2009, and now it’s the last month of the year. Just a little reminder that we need to use our time wisely, we don’t get it back. Enjoy each moment, even if we are just quietly waiting for the next train.

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