Joe Tree changed my life

Rosemary was arriving tonight so I had the house to tidy. It was quite a challenge as I've picked up a bug and was feeling as though i needed to go straight to bed. Maybe I should have got the train home rather than cycling in the cold.

Part of the tidy included locating all my British Journal of Photography magazines and putting them in an ordered pile. It got me thinking. (I think a lot) On the 28th Aug 2011 I started Blip. I'd first seen the website by following a link from old friend Richie's Facebook. I loved the site's clean look and simplicity. Some of the images were stunning too. Before I knew it, I had bought a new camera and signed up for an account. After a few posts, I got a message from Mr Big Fish himself, Joe Tree. Bloody hell....we had been class mates at James Gillespies! Back then, if you had told me Joe would have influenced my life so much, I would have laughed.

Prat?tyasamutp?da , or dependent origination, a Buddhist concept explains that all things arise in dependence upon multiple causes and conditions. With Blip and my new love of photography, a whole new way of looking at the world opened up to me. Previously, I've been quite literal about what I see, taking quite an empirical, scientific approach to life. I called a spade, a spade. But then, I started going to photography exhibitions, I started to 'see light' and what had previously seemed like pretentious artistic twaddle became more resonant.

At school, art was always appealing but I didn't have the confidence to draw. I look at things: a beastie on a flower, a photo, a film or a painting and can be extremely moved. I once won a pencil drawing competition at primary school, the Scottish hills on a grey day. I was very proud. My next artistic masterpiece at secondary school was also in pencil. It was a simple seascape. The teacher insisted that I add paint to it. I didn't want to. He made me. I was upset. That was the last time I properly drew anything.

At university, I wanted to do a contemporary art elective, but on suggesting it, the year head frowned. Strange as he is a rather good psychologist. The closest I got was helping my housemate choreograph a contemporary dance piece....I helped conceptually as I move as elegantly as a deranged monkey on angel dust.

However, a camera gives me the chance to create images without having to visualise images in my brain and then use motor skills to reproduce them on paper. It's not about point and shoot though. An image has got to be able to tell or embellish a story.

With most interests come magazines. Photography ones tend to focus on equipment and the technical side of taking a picture, rather than on the images themselves. The British Journal of Photography is different. It's a beautiful publication.

Sebastião Salgado is the focus of this month's magazine. He is a true great. Stunning composition, great tone and very important subject matter. I saw his work in the Gallery of Photography in Dublin and was affected for at least a few days afterwards. Another favourite of mine who has featured is Roger Ballan... I like his weirdness, his use of black and white on gelatin silver. Ballan and Salgado don't need colour.

My job is important to me...coaching and coach education in cycling. An academic debate in this area is the question "is coaching an art or a science?". However, most sporty types have had limited exposure to the arts...so such philosophical debates tend to be challenging. There's no end point or goal because there is no right or wrong answer to the question or a reasonable empirical process to follow. For some, that may mean that the question is pointless.

In contrast, art involves exploring emotions or feelings using one's preferred form, often without demonstrable purpose, creating connections in understanding that would not be possible with science alone. Now when I create educational resources, I think about how to connect with the emotions or feelings of others, whether through imagery, humour or simple text. It's not all about 'fact'.

Today's blip isn't a random muse though. It comes back to prat?tyasamutp?da. Blip was the beginning of a journey for me. It moved me in a different direction from my scientific mindset. I began to explore images beyond the superficial, putting the pieces together in my head on the importance of many art forms, using that knowledge to help others learn. Joe Tree changed my life.