Most of the time I live a lot inside my head. It has to do with the writing, I think. I’m busy mulling a plot, figuring out character motivations, trying to locate that elusive perfect word. Or, if I’m not thinking about writing, I’m trying to figure out how to solve some other problem at work, or around the family. I’m aware of the world around me, and that it is often very beautiful, but I often move through it on autopilot.
My venture into photography with the Wading In class is teaching me to see the world around me. “Pay attention,” my father used to say when I was a child. Mind you, he would say this in the middle of a card game, while tapping a card he was about to play on the table. This rather obvious signal meant that I, his partner, was expected to do something, to take some action, and that I would know what it was if only I put my mind to it.
In the Wading In class, it also turns out we are expected to pay attention, and take action. One of the assignments last week was a scavenger hunt, with a list of pictures to ‘find’, continuing to include some part of our physical self in the image.
And I began to notice things I’d been missing. Geometrical patterns everywhere, the way a sheen of water on the pavement will shift and change with the pressure of a foot, reflections in a window. It is good to be pulled out of my head and into the physical world, and I hope in the end it will make me a better writer. I’m including some of these pictures here, again with the caveat that I am not a photographer and these are not ART. But they do show the way I am beginning to see the world a little differently, thanks to the camera.
In response to the instruction to “find a heart”, I started here:
And I really didn’t like it, so I started playing, and in the end surprised myself with this:
I was so totally focused on getting a picture of a heart shaped object with some part of my body included, that I didn’t even notice the different textures and patterns in this picture until after I took it. I’m thinking a real photographer sees these things before they take the picture. For me, I seem to discover them after.
Like this one, in response to “A Moment of Rest.” I had literally never noticed the geometry of the stairway.
The last one I’m going to share was taken during a trip to the local dump, looking for “a pattern on the ground.” I began by looking at the yellow line, and only through the camera lens did I notice the light reflecting on the sheen of water, and the way it changed every time I took a step.
This picture has made me think, probably more than any of the others. That here, as in the rest of life, something ordinary might be beautiful if I take the time to pay attention.
Beautiful post, Kerry! I’m really enjoying the class too. Some days when the words aren’t there, I go out to take pictures–because it’s for a class and needs to be done–and wow. It opens up the words in unbelievable ways. I’m going to keep doing this. Like you, I find I’m too often in my head. Thanks for this post and thanks for taking the class with me.
Johanna – it is wonderful to have a different artistic outlet, isn’t it? Thanks to you for dragging me in, lol.
This is so interesting to read (both your post, Kerry, and Johanna’s comment). I’m a writer too, but I’m also very visually oriented, and I think I just assume that the two things are connected–because for me, they are. A lot of what I write tends to be very visual, I guess–prose poems that focus on landscape, for instance. I’m totally, utterly incapable of plot though.
The Wading In class has actually reminded me that I’ve always been a little obsessed with capturing the physical world through a camera lens–even since I got my first camera at age 6. (Not like I know what I’m doing any better now than I did then though!)
Amy, I find it fascinating the way we all see the world in different ways. Which is one of the reasons I love seeing the other photos people are taking for the class, as well as one reason I love reading what my friends write. So many different facets of reality, and most of us are trapped in a tiny little worldview
Having trouble with my iphoto which is causing a bit of slackage for me in Wading In! These photos are great, the course is too. I love Vivienne’s style. Your post is inspiring me to do some work today!! : )
Suzanne – Camera trouble? That would make things rather difficult. I hope you get it sorted out. This timer stuff is harder to do, for me. Makes me feel very vulnerable and exposed.
Wow. I so need to try this. Like you, I tend to live inside my head a lot, which, I have to admit, is a pretty interesting place. But now I’m wondering what I’ve been missing by focusing inward too much.
Hmmm. Thanks for making me think!
Linda – hey, my mission in life is to make you think, lol. Seriously though, it has been a ton of fun and much less threatening than I’d anticipated.
Great photos! I find exploring the photography exercises a different part of myself. Except I feel like I’m forever chasing what I *see* and trying to get the camera to show it.
Great post, Kerry. And I really like the photos.
I, too- see much more visually in my mind, than with my physical eyes. Though I do try also to keep aware of the “real” world around me.