Thursday, August 18, 2011

What's The Point?


This is one half of a failed attempt at a little editorial humor. The graffiti was scribbled onto the granite ledge of a walkway overlooking the highway and I wanted to juxtapose the question with the rush of traffic going by - it didn't work. 

Retaken w/ Wide Angle Lens*
But I was also thinking about the question itself, it's one of those annoying voices inside my head that frequently holds me back when I want to take a shot at something and that little demon says, "what's the point, that'll never work, you're wasting your time, who do you think you are....etc."

But sometimes I take the picture anyway, and then the affirmation that I get from posting the pictures and hearing feedback from a supportive community silences those other voices just a little bit more. And THAT'S the point.

This pic is from a couple of days ago, The only thing I accomplished today was taking a few chances. They didn't work out as planned, but I went for it, and will keep trying.

Thanks Cheryl, Gerry, and Bill, and numerous students & friends who've commented privately or on facebook!

*Added Aug.19, 2011
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4 comments:

  1. CCAugust 19, 2011 at 3:50 AM

    I like it, Mike. Nice composition and it makes the viewer think. Sometimes a relatively simple photo (content wise) is much more complex to the viewer due to the questions it raises and the thoughts it evokes. So glad we can share these images and feed each others creativity :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill WellhamAugust 19, 2011 at 6:43 AM

    It doesn't always matter if an image makes no sense to anybody else. As long as it means something to you. We don't always need reasons for every photo. But, the good thing about blogger are the little written explanations which go with the images. That is what makes this little image interesting. We can all understand why you took the shot.

    Keep on taking these kinds of shots, and keep posting them. They all make sense to your fellow enthusiasts... lol.

    I think that some time in the future, I will post a little chapter about this kind of thing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael GattonAugust 19, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    Thanks guys - I posted this for its content, to illustrate the commentary, not because I think it has anything in the way of intrinsic beauty. In fact, the lack of a decent image yesterday is largely what prompted it :-). I may add the bigger image that failed to put it in context.

    Flikr now has about 5 billion images, as Bill noted recently. That's a fraction of the photos people have sitting around on their computer hard drives. Makes you wonder...

    I will also return to this topic from time to time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bill WellhamAugust 19, 2011 at 3:33 PM

    Your last point is an interesting thought.

    ReplyDelete

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