Monday
Mar052012
civilized ku # 2102 ~ profundity and the tableaux vivant
Monday, March 5, 2012 at 12:39PM ;)
The netminder ~ Saranac Lake, NY - in the Adirondack Park • click to embiggenYesterday, I made this picture. Upon viewing the result, I have found it to be rather emotionally / intellectually unsettling. I am currently writing an expanded entry to follow this entry. That entry will delve into my thoughts on the reasons why I find the picture to unsettling.
However, before I post the follow up / expanded entry, I wanted to post just the picture in order to solicit your reaction / response - uninfluenced by my thoughts - to it.
Please indulge me in this request. I am very interested in reading about your reaction to it.
Reader Comments (10)
The goalie looks lifeless or doll-like.
Nick
My first reaction is the goalie is being criticized, being given a negative message. Not sure why I feel that way. Perhaps because everyone is looking at him but he is avoiding eye contact.
I am drawn at once to the goalie he is the center and
the red and white stick right out everything else is dull
Um, all four kids look like they've each just said, or heard, "Uh-oh".
You have already made some comment and provided information/thoughts about the image in your request. You have said it was emotionally and intellectually unsettling. With that as a starting point I look to see what makes it intellectually and emotionally unsettling. I suspect the emotional element is related to the goalie, who I am guessing is your grandson Hugo.
And I would suspect that the image is prelude to or postlude to a hockey game that the goalie of the picture was a major player.
It seems that the three boys are in some manner menacing toward the goalie, who in his protective gear has an exposed fair haired, one might almost say angelic face and expression. The expression and posture of the boy hiding in the corner is disquieting as well as what seem to be aggressive postures of the two bigger boys. But at the same time there was an adult(the photographer) in close proximity to whatever was happening or was about to happen. The goalie is not looking for aid from that quarter.
It is an image that begs the viewer to add a story line or try out several, with the goalie and the boy in blue as main characters.
On the other hand your request for comments begins the story on a disquieting note.
I look forward to the rest of the story.
To me it implies a power relationship - a kind of social pressuring is going on here - everybody looks to the center of attention, but he is looking away.
I don't see any good coming from it, that's for sure, the tension is visible, just at this moment.
What happens next?
I don't know what you're talking about. I have a rather large monitor, so when I "embiggen" I "EMBIGGEN!!"
The kid on left looks as if he just walked into the scene. He's all Like "What's up guys".
The kid on the right is just leaning there and I detect a slight smile on his face. He's all Like "You're good for a little guy"
The kid in the corner is all like "What ev'? I'ts cold in here."
Now what does seem kinda off putting, to me, is that little kid in that HUGE gear. It's like someone hit a kid, who was the same size as the 2 standing kids, with a shrink ray
Nothing unsettling about three fans admiring the rosy-cheeked goalie.
Nothing sinister or unsettling ... just an ambiguous image. Trying to "read" the image it seems to me the 3 boys are friends and are simply goofing off; the goalie (a third-party) has to make his way through the group of 3 boys. At the moment in time the shot was taken, the goalie is not interacting with the 3 boys ... but there's not enough info (for me) to tell if there's an issue here or what the truth (or story) actually is.
Reading your post on my tablet in portrait orientation I enlarged the picture and that cropped out the kid on the left.
From that perspective it seems that if I'm not mistaken, your grandson Hugo, who from your earlier posts is not a goalie, is re-enacting something. Perhaps a game loosing goal?