Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Stockdale.
Hi Douglas, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Thank you, and I think that I would like to supplement my earlier interview (2019) with an update on my recent turn of events that has been an enlightened mental health journey that led to the publication of my recent artist book ‘The Flow of Light Brushes the Shadow’ published by Singular Images Press.
The recent events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic with some of the resulting issues anxiety and tension that occurred for me, and probably countless others also resulted in a self-awareness of how I have been haunted by anxiety since my early childhood. While confronting my current issues of a low-grade anxiety, I became aware of a much-forgotten childhood trauma that probably has been an underlying influence on many of my personal decisions. Looking way back, as in high school sports, I was more comfortable as an individual contributor (cross country runner) than in a team events like football or basketball. Fast forward, this may also account for how comfortable I am working independently as an artist or book coach, versus in a structured group setting, such as an illustrator within an advertising agency. Concurrently, I have worked independently as an independent consultant in industrial design for a number of pharmaceutical companies, which also required me to travel extensively while not understanding why the domestic and international travel seemed to create so much underlying tension for me.
My artistic inclination inspired me to try to investigate my travel-related tension and how I felt disconnected by my new surroundings with a looming sense of dissociation from my family and others. For the past fifteen years I have been using a combination of staged photography in conjunction with photographing others who could be seen as me in various travel situations; traversing through airport terminals, empty and dark urban landscapes, confronting faceless corporate hotels, and similar situations that result from long distant travel. I have realized that my anxiety is probably more low-grade, thus I was very uncomfortable with the amount of travel that I needed to complete, it was more of a necessary evil that accompanied my assignments. While working on this series, it was a bit vexing to be unable to put my finger on just why I felt this underlying tension.
It was during this recent pandemic when I was finally understanding why my ongoing subtle underlying tension persisted that provided the conceptual ‘glue’ that enabled me to pre-visualize this new artist book, The Flow of Light Brushes the Shadow. You could say that then all of the visual pieces fell into place.
For me, this artist book allows me to confront my own mental health issues and I hope inspires others to do likewise. If something does not feel right, keep asking questions as to why and if necessary, get some professional help. Skilled outside perspective may be difficult to hear or accept but stay open to the process. I would also like to add from personal experience, that when there is some very early underlying trauma that creates issues like anxiety, you may not ever be ‘cured’ to eliminate that underlying anxiety, but you have the opportunity to manage it and not be managed by it.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Life has a way of providing curve balls as we deal with the lingering effects of COVID-19, the impact of a foreign war with the terrible invasion of Ukraine by Russia. the current threats to democracy in which we witnessed someone attempt to overthrow our government and an assault on women’s rights to choose by the Supreme Court. These are all big-picture events that have local and eventually very personal consequences.
Personally, some of these events have been a benefit that led me to the realization of why my personal struggles are what these are, such as realizing my underlying anxiety has resulted in an ongoing and daily need for me to try to manage it. I now think that knowing that I need to deal with this mental health condition is a ultimately a positive; now when I attend a group event and mid-way I feel a strong urge to flee, I can create some space and think through my knee-jerk response, and usually come to a different conclusion (such as returning back and participating again with other in the event). The understanding of what has haunted me has also resulted in making different decisions regarding my assignments, such as I do not travel anywhere near the amount that I used to, and I am more willing to investigate alternatives. Which for me is an upside of the pandemic; it seems everyone is familiar with having Zoom and virtual meeting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Thank you for that delightful question. Perhaps the one thing I am probably best known for is being the Senior Editor and founder of the PhotoBook Journal (photobookjournal.com), a virtual arts magazine focused on providing book reviews of contemporary international photographic published projects. PhotoBook Journal has the distinction of being the number one photographic book review site on the web since 2018 as determined by blog.feedspot.com. I will also say that this distinction occurs in great part due to the volunteer editorial and production team that we have assembled. I guess I can say that I am the leader of a wonderful band of photographic book lovers.
Secondarily, I am probably known in general as being a visual book-geek, having self-publishing or being published over the past ten-plus years, in conjunction with my book development workshops with various photographic organizations and book coaching. I was commissioned in 2017 to create a ‘Guide to Self-Publishing an Indie Artist Book’ (now out of print) that recaps much of my book development workshop. My recently released artist book The Flow of Light Brushes the Shadow is my fourth artist book and seventh publication. The sense I have from others is that my artist projects and related artist books are related to my curiosity and ability for storytelling. It seems like I always have three to four different projects or series in various stages of development.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Wow, this is an interesting question. Perhaps what was brought to light this last year about my lurking and underlying anxiety; that I can manage more successfully what I accept and know. Perhaps worth repeating something I said earlier in this interview; it is better (healthier) to manage a mental health condition that allow it to manage you.
Every day, sometime multiple times during the day, I feel that lurking sense of tension and self-doubt, and it’s good to sometimes say that a time-out is necessary, take a break and if I don’t accomplish all of my to-do’s today, then tomorrow is another day. As the late Leslie Jordan said; ‘Never too late to be happy, y’all’.
Pricing:
- Artist book ‘The Flow of Light Brushes the Shadow’
- $60.00 plus CA taxes and shipping
Contact Info:
- Website: www.douglasstockdale.com
- Instagram: @douglasstockdale
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/douglas.stockdale/
- Twitter: @Doug_Stockdale
- Other: www.photobookjournal.com
Image Credits
Douglas Stockdale
Singular Images Press
