Through a Jungian Lens

I took this photo on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island in between Courtney and Campbell River at a place called Oyster River.  The beach wasn’t your typical beach where tourists would go for some sun in the summertime,  rather it was a wild place, a place that lends itself to reflection.  I find it interesting in which scenes attract me.  I guess that it is more about who I am than about the place itself.

Places in themselves are just that, places.  It is us as humans who attribute an affect to these places.  And there is no doubt that our personality or typology has a huge influence on how we experience any given place, especially our “attitude types.”  I have an introverted attitude as opposed to an extroverted attitude.

The attitude-types … are distinguished by their attitude to the object. The introvert’s attitude is an abstracting one; at bottom, he is always intent on withdrawing libido from the object, as though he had to prevent the object from gaining power over him.  The extravert, on the contrary, has a positive relation to the object.  He affirms its importance to such an extent that his subjective attitude is constantly related to and oriented by the object. (Jung, CW vol. 6, par. 557.)

I am drawn to this scene as it lets me escape into a safer inner space, or if you want, an outer space that is not bound by stuff in that space.  An extrovert would find interest in the content of the photo rather than the mood of the photo.  Seeing this, it becomes easier to understand why I have so few people photos posted here.  The images have a numinous power for me that lead to something behind, beyond the contents of the images.