When the day ends
Laval, QC, August 2009
This is another one of those "before" pictures* that, in the greater context of all that's happened since, takes on a somewhat different meaning. I've had a particular thing for sunrise/sunset pictures since my father first asked me for a copy of a particular sunrise in Colorado a few years back (see here for more background on this photo.)
Since I took that first photo, every time I find myself shooting quickly to capture the fast-changing skies at the beginning or end of the day, I think back to a connection that helped me grow not only as a photographer, but also as a son and as a person. My father enjoyed the results of these adventures, and I enjoyed thinking of what he'd think of them.
Obviously it's all different now. I can't simply post the results to my blog and call him or e-mail him. I can't crinkle my nose at his sometimes-too-honest honesty. Connections take on strange new forms when someone dies, and I think I need to learn what those forms are, and how I can internalize them without turning sad every time they come to mind.
Because it's hard to see through the viewfinder when your eyes are filled with tears.
Your turn: How does photography connect you to the people who matter?
* Please see here, then here for background, or simply click here for the whole series. Click here for more of Thematic Photographic's red-themed week.
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7 comments:
Carmi....Photography connects right from the heart. Yes, it is difficult to see through the lens when our eyes are wet with tears. The tears spring too when we do look back on momentous pictures of times before..... good tears mixed with sad confused tears.
Its a beautiful photo......
I have posted my third "red" post. I chose a pair of shoes..... Rosie red shoes....
http://mayfairplace.blogspot.com/2009/11/little-rosie-red-shoes.html
take care friend.......
Mindblowingly beautiful, Carmi!
It is a cliche, but my photography helps stop time. I capture the joy in the little faces of my grandchildren who, just yesterday, were babies and today are toddlers. I catch the flowerbud at its peak and I get that animal just before it moves out of range. Photography for me stops time.
Sun rise, and sun set photos are a lot of fun. The lighting changes quickly, and there are a lot of opportunities to take photos from different perspectives.
Moments with people are also like that. They happen so quickly, and bits and pieces stick in our memory.
Recently when I photograph people, I try to incorporate something about them in the photo. Two recent examples for me are these:
(This one is my red entry, because of my friends Mustang).
http://gallow-photo-year.blogspot.com/2009/10/week-26-day-189-october-29-2009-mustang.html
and
http://gallow-photo-year.blogspot.com/2009/08/week-17-day-116-august-25-2009-dads.html
A few years ago I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen in well over a decade. I'd given a photo of a sunset shot from the Appalachian Trail (on the NC/TN border)and one of the first things he told me is that he still has the photo hanging in his office... The story of the photo and your father is touching.
It wasn't a sunset/sunrise (though I too marvel at the palette those scenes offer us to paint with) but around the middle of last month, I had a chance to "connect" with my own father through my photography. Even though he's been gone over 9 years. I was doing a shoot for InterAct (details here) a domestic violence shelter my dad was a big supporter of during his lifetime. And the event I was shooting happened to fall on his birthday. So in a way I felt I was carrying on his work. It didn't make the job more important -- it couldn't be more important, but it did make it perhaps a touch more satisfying.
But that post was purple-themed, so for a splash of red I turn to the generation after mine, and a shot of my son at one of his recitals. I'll remember this one as the first one I was able to attend since he's been in college because his first 2 1/2 years were at a school 800 miles away. I'll also remember it as the fastest I think I've ever seen his fingers move -- which is saying a lot.
Thematic Photographic 74: "Red" v.3.0 - Red Shirt Senior
lovely photo...your sentiment serene, yet vibrant, very talented. I always beleive that anyone who passes, lives on inside me. As does your father, you are your fathers, forever, and he is forever yours. Even when physically not present, but he still there and very present in all that you do. Blessings to you, I hope you find a way to dry those eyes.
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