I wanted to get out of the house more. I needed to challenge myself. My second manuscript would soon be completed and I worried about post partum depression. So I went to the local community college and enrolled in a photography course.
The world looks different as I view it through my rented digital camera. In the past two years of grief and loss I’d forgotten about all the color and texture and dazzlingly rich stories to be told in pictures. When my daughter died, somehow I lost my eyes on the vivid world around me. It’s still difficult to want to draw or paint. But the camera has sparked visual adventure for me once again.
One of the first assignments was to photograph various people in their elements. So I took a hundred photos of my family and friends. I even photographed myself as I turned the camera, aimed on my face at arm’s length, and whirled around in circles. Spinning in space has been my “element” lately.
Here’s a picture I took of my friend, Liz, in her garden. I can’t emit this kind of groundedness and peace yet myself but I can recognize it through the camera and capture it in a photograph.
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