Stuff shapes us. We normally think it is only the other way round, that we shape human-made stuff, and that nature shapes non-human made stuff.  But is that so?

But there is no such thing as ‘Nature’ that is separate from stuff. There are no ‘laws of nature’ external to things. Causation is an immanent process, or so I would contend.

We attach special importance to some stuff and they become part of how we see ourselves. Perhaps our ‘selves’ are made with their aid. 

As favoured stuff ages it takes on a special significance for us.  A special tool, perhaps, or an old camera, a pair of leather shoes, an old bike, and so on.

Or it might be things in a place such as the bark of a particular tree, a weathered sandstone wall, a rusty fence or the way tree roots descend over rocks.

This series of posts examines this special quality of ageing stuff.

The way tree roots descend over rocks, Bromoil made in my darkroom