Abstract

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera"
[Dorothea Lange]

Yeah - I'll buy into that. I see things very differently when i've been using my camera a little more.

Not just in the obvious *visual* sense, where I find I pay more attention to the minutae and detail of life in front of me, I enjoy watching/observing for a few seconds longer than I would if I were just on a normal hurried route to the office, the airport, the shopping centre, the school, or whichever place i'm rushing to that day ...

Even just in that sense, I find taking pictures slows me down. (In a good way!) Even when I haven't got the camera with me. I notice more. I think it's the closest i'll get to having Monkey's perspective, as she is busily, hungrily *see-ing* all of life with her fresh eyes.

It has another impact too though. I think it makes me more pragmatic, more able to see other people's perspective, not just visually, but in general. Once i've slowed down a little, and the synapses are busily engaged in thinking about different angles for a photograph, then I think it triggers something, (in my head, anyway) that pushes me to consider different angles across a whole range of things. Once that 'objectivity' switch is flipped, I don't think it necessarily confines itself to photography.

The act of photography engages me to think about other peoples viewpoint and opinions far more than I usually do.

Or maybe i'm just a self - absorbed cow 90% of the time, who becomes a little more bearable with a lens in her mit ;-)

Anyway, my little learning journey tonight was to play with my macro lens a bit more, and to do something a wee bit abstract.

I shall now float off in a cloud of ethereal peace and tranquility. ('tis far better than emailing my colleague and spelling out just how many shades of stupid he is being).

and breathe ......