“It’s too bad if a heart lacks fire, and is deprived of the light of a heart ablaze. The day on which you are without passionate love is the most wasted day of your life.”
–Omar Khayyam
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Morning Trip (239)
“Advice to those about to acquire a Vermeer: Always look at it as it might appear in its average moments–not as it might glow in the light-dance of the fireplace, or burn from within on a fall Sunday morning when the amalgamation of the sun’s rays blasts red upon those fat dutch cheeks, or as you would make it glow when you return home flushed with the one victory or another, or with wine. None of that.
Rather think: What will this masterpiece look like at 2:45 on a February afternoon when you have run out of toilet paper and the roof leaks and a horse has just kicked in your kitchen door for the fun of it. And a dead badger is wedged high in the chimney, stinking up the house. Consider such moments as these, when you are about to acquire your Vermeer. But yes. She is as lovely as a Vermeer.”
–Roger Rosenblatt, The Book of Love
Hometown History Photography Assignment
The following is a response to: Get your Hometown History assignment in before the Rapture, please. from Kathy Drue, over on Lake Superior Spirit
Ok, I went out yesterday with two cameras. I am still fortunate enough to be using a borrowed Sigma SD10 and lenses and my own. The life at the very large city park was amazing and I am glad I was able to attend to it. I grabbed a few shots in the park of structures, and, they simply had NO life to them. I felt it when I was taking them. My insides said Screw assignments, your own history is and was created by LIFE and your sensory tactile approach to it. Nature and surroundings in public places carry all of the feelings and emotions of the humans having walked there before me. THAT is what makes a Hometown to me.
That being said, part of me wonders if there is something about building images that has to be juuuuuuuuuust right for me to consider it more than a flat and one dimensional shot. I DO have wonderful images of barns and walls, which usually have a great deal of history connected to them, if I can find an elder to share stories about my chosen subject. I keep coming back to the idea of NOT having a hometown and either attempting to join in and force one upon myself or enjoying seeing what creates such a feeling and expression from OTHERS. Share their stories and feelings within a single image.
So, I will share here some of the images that I have taken over time, and then some of the nature ones from Brandon Park, which is of historical value to the town where I live and a place of gathering for growing and sharing memories.
Little League World Series Opening Parade
Parade Glamor
Mrs. Styers Queen of Blueberries
Montgomery Patriot--by Elisabeth Connelley
Beckonings--by Elisabeth Connelley
Well, go figure! I got to the end and I had plenty, silly me. I’ll post Brandon Park images another time.
Please visit and Scott Thomas at Views Infinitum if you would like to view or are interested in participating in more photography assignments.
Elisa's Spot 