My Pepere was a professional photographer, as was one of his sons and one of that son’s daughters. Two of my children have studied photography. I’m the one in the family that cuts off heads and takes still shots of the garage floor. In response to my admiration of a series of his photographs featuring everyday objects, my friend B, the inspired photographer whose work appears at
Intervallic, gave me an assignment. I was to take a picture of clothespins (could we get any more ordinary, every-day?) and then write about the process.
I’ve been staring at the clothesline through my camera lens for days now. My billowing pillowcases do not look like objects d’art, nor do my bathroom rug or my faded blue jeans inspire poetry. But oh! Look what happened when I took a picture of the three clothespins my landlady left on the line after removing her dishcloths.
What’s next, B?
8 comments:
Yep. I think you've pegged that one.
I said it over at Shara's place and I'll say it here too....
Beauty in the ordinary. You found it.
Perfect!
You see, P., you've just proved that the photographer makes the picture. Makes, I say, not takes.
Your thinking this assignment through, taking it seriously, waiting for the moment when things looked right to you, has brought this pictorial reward.
It's the rhythm I see first, the misfit angle of the rogue peg. It's on a stave, a kind of musical arrangement of quavers with a dotted semi-quavers, if you like. A minor chord perhaps? The diagonal line adds more interest. Then there's the blue sky backdrop, the angle and texture of the roof tiles. And that cheeky bit of greenery insisting on being in frame. Should it be in, or out? Only you can say.
See? It's all there, isn't it? Now you know you can do this too, P.
A camera teaches us to look at the world more carefully, that's all.
P.S. the good lighting: coming from "three-quarters back", it makes the pegs look three dimensional. Well seen, P.
Well now, I've impressed myself no end because, though I loved the shot the minute I downloaded it, I could not have described why as accurately as you did, B. Good lighting, eh? I had no idea what I was doing other than trying to keep my own shadow out of the photo...I will pay more attention to the angle of the light next time.
Thanks, all, for the compliments.
This says it all. Sometimes we try to make assignments more complicated than they need to be. This minimalist approach works quite well here. Just leave it to the imagination of the viewer to think about what they might have held or what is ready to be hung up.
Clothespins! And yes, beautifully shot, you can see their personalities clear as day.
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