in spring sun

Tag Ramble

Take a look at the tags page and you'll see that the most popular tags appear in the biggest font size. There are a handful of subjects that are huge here. They are:

beach
flower
flowers
sky
sunset
water

I was thinking about these subjects - how elemental, given freely from nature, available endlessly for our contemplation. Ok, sunsets don't last long, but you get a new one tomorrow. The permanence of sky changes constantly with clouds and light, as water changes and remains. Flowers are so temporary and each one tells the story of eternal beauty. Also, these are each subjects that suggest (to me) something solitary. Very few of the beach pictures have people in them. I think the aloneness of these subjects tells you something about photographers and what prompts the act of photography. Alone in the presence of beauty, people come into contact with some layer of their own existence, and then want to share it, want to be known there.

I joke about these ubiquitous themes. I complain that I don't want to see another sunset on the beach photo unless there is a bloody knife fight in the foreground. And still when I was in Eleuthera in November, I felt compelled to photograph the turquoise water and the sand/rocky shore. I cannot resist pointing my camera at flowers, sky, water. Beauty says 'LOOK', and I think sometimes 'click' is instead of 'look'.

I cut a deal with myself not to click until I have looked. I end up deleting most of those pure beauty pictures anyway. My images don't touch the beauty of the live, changing experience (still haven't given up my addiction to kitten face, though - a weakness). I intend to stick with the pictures that say something about my relationship to what I'm seeing. The difference isn't necessarily in the image. More in my relationship to it.

There are a number of photographers here who can photograph flowers, sky, beach, sunset or water in a way that conveys (to me) a great depth of feeling and a sense of the relationship between them and their subject. Emma is a great example. She used to go by another name here, and another before that. Each time she changes her identity, I know it is her from the first image, because I can see her in the sky, in the flower.