I’d say that smell is one of my most favourite, luxurious senses. All 5 senses are of course very important. You need your sight to experience the wonderful, most beautiful things in the world, and as a photographer this is obviously very important. Although, it has been known for blind photographers to be successful, for example Chris Holmes. Holmes uses his sense of light and movement when taking his images and I find this hugely inspirational. Sound is another important sense. Music….how could anyone live without music? Well it would be awful, surely. Songs can put us in all different kinds of moods. For example, if someone we’re to put on the well known song Hallelujah I’d probably start getting a little emotional. Not enough to make me cry, but enough to get me thinking about things. It’s silly really because that song reminds me of a death in a programme called The O.C, I mean it’s not even real so why does it put me in that frame of mind? Where as if you put on Green Day or an up beat song that I liked, it would probably take me away from that negative frame of mind, or will cheer me up even more!
Touch and taste are also just as important as food helps us enjoy the necessity of eating and the touch of someone else makes us feel comforted and as though we are not alone. All of these senses encourage us to remember feelings and thoughts, but for me smell is definitely a strong sense.
Yesterday I was having a little clear out in my bedroom and organising some of my drawers, when I came across a couple of bottles of perfumes. I’d put them away because I had some new ones bought for me over Christmas and wanted to use those for a little while. There was a certain bottle called ‘Milan’, nothing expensive, just one bought from Next, but I remember absolutely loving the smell. I sprayed it as soon as I found it, and immediately felt like I was taken back 6 months ago from today. I’ve mentioned my trip to France and Belgium with my Dad quite a few times now, but it’s just such a memorable time of my life. It was the most amazing 10 days you could ever imagine. Me and my Dad get on like a house on fire, and with nothing planned we had the whole of France at our feet. I remember the weather was hotter than hot and even though we were traveling with the roof of the car down it still felt like a constant heat wave. As I’m sure you can imagine I was spraying the perfume at every opportunity, I’m surprised there is even any left! It’s funny what smells remind you of certain times…freshly cut grass reminds me of long summer days and evenings, and coffee makes me want to snuggle with a good book.
It’s different for some people, however. I’d never heard of the word Anosmia until I met my friend Sarah Kathleen Page. Even then it took me over a year to realize that she had never smelt anything in her life. Imagine, never having smelt coffee beans, or the beautiful smell of a darkroom, or when you open a brand new book. Sarah is working on raising more awareness to help people take her condition seriously. Like me, many people have never even heard of the word, and I definitely agree with the fact that it’s very important to get the cause spread as far as possible! You can follow @ForgottenSense on Twitter to keep up with news or even try to help if you know any info!
