Mary Dennis ~ Barriers and Solutions

I think I have figured out that there's a pretty strong connection between what I am feeling and what I choose to photograph. On the morning I shot this image I was feeling a bit worn down, numb and frustrated from dealing with a series of family matters. I have passed this grassy hill, this concrete barrier, this chain link fence probably a hundred times on my regular walks, but on this morning it spoke to me as I passed by. I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking about it at the moment I photographed it, but when I got home and viewed it on the computer I realized it was very much an equivalent to what was going on in my head. As in : there are ways around these barriers and they really aren't all that difficult to figure out. Now I can't say that my photographs are always a reflection of a mood, a feeling or an emotion. Sometimes a scene just lights up my eyes and mind and I trip the shutter. However, on this morning, concrete and chain link with green grass and a blue sky on the horizon pretty much summed it up.

Comments

[Jim Jirka]

Mary,
Very nice. I too believe there is a connection between the mental state and the creative subject matter. Feelings and memories, conflicts in life all contribute to the creative process, that goes beyond just a pretty scene. Most images lately have that stagnant presence. No feeling at all.

[Tom Gallione]

I also agree about our emotional states affecting what we shoot. I have experienced it as well.

I like that the natural elements in this image, earth and sky, are parallel in relation to each other, as well as the man-made elements, concrete and metal.

[Tom Gallione]

Oh, and thanks for the link to the Minor White article. It looks like there are some other good reads on the site as well.

[mary dennis]

Thanks Tom but Mark is the one who inserted the link to the Minor White piece. I used the word [i]equivalent[/i] without a link. It was an interesting article though wasn't it? I especially like the last line from it: "With the theory of Equivalence photographers everywhere are given a way of learning to use the camera in relation to the mind, heart, viscera and spirit of human beings." I'm not sure about the use of the word [i]theory[/i] though. I believe it to be a fact with regard to my own photography.

[michelle Parent]

Mary,
I too find that the "stuff" going on in my life comes to the surface when I am out photographing and stuff that I've gone by hundreds of times suddenly seem to trigger me. Often, though, I end up trashing them the next day!