‘i’ll be here dreaming’ 2016

“How does one address in words a subject that is better addressed in silence through the heart?” 

These words were written to me this week by my friend Becky Olenchak, when I was musing on how to approach writing today’s blog post. The clarity of Becky’s words made me pause and ask ‘why am I doing this and who is it for?’. Why do I feel the need to share my thoughts, with friends and strangers, which are just as valid if left unwritten? I suppose the truthful answer to this question is that I write this blog, first and foremost, for me. The fact that a fair few people choose to read it and seem to enjoy it, is an absolute bonus. So, I suppose today’s piece is no different; I want to somehow mark this date in a way which (to me, at least) seems most appropriate and fitting.

This is also a question that the good folk at TMK ask themselves every year, when 4th January comes around. The global community of Karn fans clearly want a focal point, somewhere they can ‘gather’ and remember Mick, but we are also very aware that this is a day on which (unlike the joyous ’24/7′ events) there is little to celebrate. This year, we hope that people will share their memories of Mick and join us in a quiet, respectful but loving tribute.

Please join us to remember Mick here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/376717995842485/

karn in fowey, 1981

This time last year I wrote a post about Mick’s passing which has proved to be the most read post on the Jansen Photography Blog. It was an incredibly hard piece to write for a number of obvious reasons; but sadly, it was also an easy one for me to come up with, as I had experienced my own significant bereavement in 2011. My husband Mark died 10 months after Mick, aged just 50, having spent 18 months battling cancer. As I wrote that piece, focusing on Steve’s and Mick’s friendship, I could vividly empathise with the loss that his friends and family were feeling, as I am sure many of you could.

Steve acknowledged this loss when he published an incredibly poignant image of Mick on his website, with the beautiful words he had written in memory of his life-long friend. The prose blew me away and I felt an absolute connection with the words, which are not merely mournful, but encapsulate the experience of losing someone through terminal illness; the moments shared where you laugh and remember, with the knowledge that, even as you are sharing these moments, time is running out. These words had a profound impact on me and still do, to this day.

However, you do not to have suffered your own loss to appreciate and empathise with Steve’s words. Here, Craig Hamlin recounts seeing the image and reading the words for the first time:

“In late 2010, plans were made to hold a ‘gathering’ for a few close `Japan` buddies, with an agreement to all meet up in London in early 2011. When events took a sadly poignant turn, with the news of the devastating loss of Mick in early January 2011, it was decided our gathering would be our own tribute to Mick. A glass raised, memories shared, from a fan’s perspective.

The memory is still vivid. We were all gathered around a circular high table, happy and comfortable in each others’ company; catching up on everyone’s latest news, with an air of frivolity surrounding us all. I was checking something on my smartphone, (I don’t recall what…..a random fact no doubt) and …… there it was…….Steve had posted a beautiful photograph of Mick on his website. As I passed the phone around, each one of us took a deep breath, read the words, and exhaled loudly. How pertinent, that this image, these words were posted up, at the very moment when we were all gathered together – a group of friends who had met because of a shared love of Japan – paying our humble tributes on that day, some 100 yards from Air Studios, where these two friends created some of their finest works.

To say this is my `favourite` image by Steve, of Mick, would sound trite …. but it is, for me, the most powerful. An image and words of true love.”

mick with sculpture (4)

It is now 5 years since we lost Mick. In that time, and certainly in the last 12 months, there has been a renaissance of sorts when it comes to his legacy. KScope have been re-releasing his solo material in beautiful heavy-weight vinyl and new fans are discovering his art and his music, via social networking platforms such as tumblr and facebook. Anecdotes from his auto-biography are now often quoted by people asking  Steve questions on ‘sleepyard’ – a situation he could probably never have foreseen. Whilst it is natural for us to mourn the loss of someone who has had an impact upon our lives, I think it is a far more positive response to continue to celebrate the life they lived and the joy they brought to us.

And Mick brought so many of us so much joy, didn’t he?

Buy his records, listen to his music, revel in those bass lines, read his book ……and continue to spread the word far and wide, in his memory.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MICK KARN 24TH JULY 1958 – 4TH JANUARY 2011.

Always loved never forgotten

images from Steve’s book ‘through a quiet window’ are available to purchase vis his website here:

http://www.stevejansen.com/imageshop/

all photographs on this site are © 2016 steve jansen all rights reserved