Film - Otherness Book Launch

 

In 2013 a group of friends and I gathered on Darnet Island in the Medway Estuary to celebrate the launch of my book 'Otherness', which recounted my 6 week stay on the island in 2012. We camped for 2 nights and during the course of our stay Karl Farrer made large scale paintings inside the fort, and we were visited by about 20 other people who arrived by canoe and sailboat. 

I could say many things about Darnet Island; the sunrises and sunsets can be spectacular, the camping is great, the nature and history are fascinating. And also, when camped there, even when alone, you are in the midst of the glory of nature yet always within sight or earshot of other humans. They are far - the coasts of Gillingham, Hoo and Chatham are all about a mile or so away - but not invisible. It's how I and, I believe, many others, like it to be. Living free in nature, with people close enough that we might visit if we desire company, but far enough that we can have our own space, too. 

Lord Byron wrote; "There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." I can identify strongly with this.

Here is a short film that shows the book launch, the painting, the gathering around campfires. I've been lucky enough to experience several perfect weekends, and this was one of them. The book is now out of print, but I've been asked many times for a reprint (thanks everybody for your interest and encouragement!) so I'm working on making that happen now.