Tom Gallione ~ Morning Light

I love peering into the woods, especially when there is a clearing or an opening of some sort. It's an invitation, even a beckoning to enter. If not physically, then at least with my imagination.

Query (from TG): Much of my own work that I actually like took some time before it appealed to me...this photograph included. In fact, most of my favorites I almost tossed. Does anyone else find this to be true with their own work?

Blog Publisher's Comment ~ "...peering into..." , "...beckoning to enter..." , "...imagination..." - IMO, good photography is an invitation to explore a new way of seeing something that you have never seen in quite the same way before. The French have a phrase for it - jamais vu (trans. - never seen). Jamais vu is part of the 3 vus; deja vu, jamais vu, and presque vu.

IMO, Tom (and myself) sometimes take a while to appreciate his own work - and most probably that of others as well - because photography is, for him, more than a form of entertainment. It is a method he uses to peer into his own soul/being. As he grows as a person he probably recognizes more of the unthought known that each of us possess and could connect to if the desire/curiousity is there.

An interesting essay on the subject - thanks to Ana for bringing it to my attention.

FEATURED COMMENT: Tom Gallione wrote "...photography has become more than a means of entertainment. It is, at times, a spiritual, intellectual and emotional activity for me.

As for entertainment, I agree with Neil Postman, we are "Amusing Ourselves to Death." Modern civilization as a whole is splashing around in filthy, shallow mud puddles when just outside our gaze is the shore of the deepest, most wonderful sea...." metaphorically speaking, of course. It just takes an open mind and a bit more effort to see it."

Comments

[Photopop 7.0]

makes me think that this is what a forest in medieval times looked like. I almost anticipate a horse drawn carriage or band of gypsys to walk past the foreground. Very nice.

[Michelle Parent]

Tom,
Now you're talking to me! That is something that would intrigue me to take a photo of it as well. It beckons to me right through my screen right now and I want to leap to it!

[Michelle Parent]

In reference to the essay, I found it very interesting. I felt that the author really hit the nail on the head with this,

"Our customary visible order is not the only one: it co-exists with other orders. Stories of fairies, sprites, ogres were a human attempt to come to terms with this co-existence. Hunters are continually aware of it and so can read signs we do not see. Children feel it intuitively, because they have the habit of hiding behind things. There they discover the interstices between different sets of the visible."

This quote says it all for me. This is what I've been struggling with all this past year. This yearning for my childhood glimpses of the magic in the world that I want to recapture and capture in my photography. That's what I've been looking for.

[gravitas et nugalis]

hallelujah sister - welcome to the world of the unthought known...

[mary dennis]

This is a supremely beckoning image Tom and I've very glad you chose not to toss it. To answer your question: yes, I have quite a few images that have had very long gestation periods before entering my good graces. I have gotten in the habit lately of tossing only the really bad technical ones, mostly the ones that are irretrievably over-exposed. I keep more blurry, awkwardly composed, oddly subject-mattered, and downright goofy images now than I ever used to. You just never know...everything looks different as the light changes.

[Anonymous]

Tom,
You have reminded me of an image that I had worked on, and then just put aside. Something just called to me when I imagined the scene. I had to make the image, but for what reasons?

I like this blog idea, for once I can ponder comments on my own without following the popular vote. Very stimulating.

[Tom Gallione]

Thanks for the comments folks. Yes, you are right, Mark...photography has become more than a means of entertainment. It is, at times, a spiritual, intellectual and emotional activity for me.

As for entertainment, I agree with Neil Postman, we are "Amusing Ourselves to Death." Modern civilization as a whole is splashing around in filthy, shallow mud puddles when just outside our gaze is the shore of the deepest, most wonderful sea....metaphorically speaking, of course. It just takes an open mind and a bit more effort to see it.