An online journal sharing my interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, spirituality and asking deep questions.
“Whatever your medium, the goal of any arts practice is to develop a greater set of skills for dealing with challenges. Experience will help you close that gap between your own vision and the piece’s final execution.” Jeff VanderMeer
Their is a nail Salon, Paradise Nails, next door to one of the coffee shops I patronize. In their window are all these plastic hands with a wide variety of shapes, colors and designs of nails customers can choose from. I have seen these hands for a long time and finally stepped inside this past week to ask if I could take a photo of these hands and nails. I’ve never gone in for a couple of reason. First, the smell from the polish and remover is nauseating to me. As I walk by I can see the girls wearing masks due to the fumes. Second, even after all these years, I’m still hesitant to ask. By the way I didn’t find any that I liked.
This past weekend a woman sat across from me at one of the local coffeehouses I patronize. After sitting down I noticed she pulled out a small sketch book from here purse and began to draw. Her hands and the task of sketching immediately perked my attention. After interrupting her she agreed to allow me to photograph her hands as she sketched. This then led to a short conversation and a chance to share something about one another. A camera has the potential to allow for new encounters. Thank you, Betty!
Our body language, posture and facial expressions say a lot. They can speak loudly or softly. Through observations we make assessments about a person’s mood or situation. As I left a local coffeehouse I noticed this couples hands. Their backs were to me so I could not see their faces, only the hands. My focus was pulled to the message of their hands as part of their conversation. It’s always a risk when asking people if you can take their photo and not just because you may be told no. We take the risk of interrupting a serious conversation or situation. Her touch suggested the need to comfort, to encourage or persuade. But, I took the risk and interrupted. After asking they admitted it was serious mood. Oops!
I explained what I observed in the language of their hands and wanted to photograph their hands. They were intrigued about the X-E1, thinking I was shooting film. After a short conversation they agreed to let me take an image. One shot was all I needed. I showed them the image and told them I would probably convert it to black and white. He suggested I make it sepia and so I did. We talked briefly about the camera and then I quickly left so they could finish the conversation. As I left I noticed they were still touching.
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” ― Ray Bradbury
When I was younger I seldom read books. Homework? I glanced through them for the book reports. College text books, yuck! Novels? Very few interested me. After high school I spent 4 years in the military, began a family and pursued some form of a career and reading was not part of that.
Fast forward into my 40’s and a shift of interests lead me in search for nonfiction books on philosophy, spirituality and religion studies. I ‘m still searching. No longer were the answers that important as I became enticed with asking more questions, a full time student without taking finals. I feel the searching for more questions lead me to discover more about myself and the world around me. I began to collect a nice little library. Many of these books, and their authors, became my friends. I no longer allowed Hollywood to create a scene but I let the book and it’s author lead me to create my own scenes, inviting me to explore with my own imagination. When I reread some books I found them even better the second time. Since purchasing an e-reader I read even much more.
In looking at the above image what does it say to you?
Do you read more or less as you’ve aged? Has your subject matter changed over the years and if so why?
