about time

…about time (2016)

Paul Fletcher

A photograph of an elderly man with a white beard reading a book at a theatre cafe table, with glasses and a backpack beside him, and blurred figures visible in the background.

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Taken in a dark December, Paul’s photograph of a stranger passing time at the National Theatre represents a significant moment in the artist’s personal relationship with his mental health.

In the winter of 2016-17, Paul was barely surviving a severe bipolar depression, facing continual crisis. He often had no concept of time – what day of the week it was or even what time of day. Walking with a camera became a meditative process, offering Paul opportunities to break negative thought cycles and exist in his body, in the moment: a form of mindfulness.

With little meaning ascribed to the passing hours, the stranger in the window reading ‘Ten Thoughts About Time’ felt like a poignant interruption of Paul’s ambles, otherwise unbound by the structures of clock time altogether.

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