Critiquing Photography, Or Not
Oaklyn, NJ
In this day of infinite sources screaming for attention, it’s difficult for many of us to slow down and appreciate those simple things in life; things that should be ritualized to make them special again. Just pausing for a moment to smell your tea, look out the window, accept what your senses tell you, can make a huge difference in your life. Just that pause in the midst of what people, even fifty years ago, would call insanity, can help. But here we are.
I was heading home and came across the scene above. Everything from the ‘Joe the Jeweler’, to the bending sidewalk, to the buffalo, seemed to say ‘Take my picture, you can figure it out later.’ So, I took the picture, and the more I look at it, the more I like it, though I haven’t figured it out. At first, it was a hodge podge of junk; a visual garage sale. As I looked longer, it seemed like bits and pieces of Americana, today’s culture, blue collar towns and a point and shoot I keep in the car, all came together.
It defies the accepted norms of composition and other taught basics and, I admit, I was ready to toss it from my Lightroom database. Luckily, I had paused to stare out my kitchen window at a dog across the street and looked around at the houses and trees in the late afternoon light, and I slowed down enough to reflect on this simple little snapshot.
That was my output for today. Not much in the big picture, but one that feels good, and now and then that’s just what we need.
