Kind of a thing around here to find faces or forms in objects, a game of sorts that cultivates imagination, creativity, and a greater awareness of the world we live in.
We tend to see things and not see things at the same time – we see clouds as clouds but when looking closer they may take on a particular shape of form.
It’s the same with what we see on a day to day basis as we go about our lives – a piece of driftwood is a piece of driftwood requiring no special scrutiny – a rusting tool or piece of equipment easily dismissed.
We know it for what it is and that suffices – a dynamic that undergoes a change when you have a camera in hand or in the company of children.
Then perhaps more than ever nuances become apparent, it’s about shape and form, light, shadows, angles of perspective, and most importantly imagination.
I’m given to think at times that if children, young children, knew the mechanics of photography they would be among the worlds most imaginative photographers.
In that vein it might not be a bad idea on occasion to leave the “assistants” and the paraphernalia behind and go afield with a child or children to see as they do and capture what attracts their attention.
And while you’re at it hand them the camera and let them take a few shots, it won’t matter if they’re out of focus, pointed at their shoes or the sky, or even if you appear headless in a photo they take.
What will matter is the fun they have and the sense of inclusion.
A child will liken a sunset to the sky being on fire, an adult will go on it’s about dust particles and the angle of the sun – then snap a few shoots and manipulate the imagine to enhance the fiery appearance in an effort to incorporate both.
As adults we may know more about the world we live in that do children, but it may serve a purpose to ask ourselves in our learning what did we set aside, and among the discarded what will we benefit from by recovering some of what may have been lost?
