PLAY DATE...
Among the abundance of wisdom Fred Rogers imparted to us in his lifetime was his assertion that, “Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” It's a truth which is by NO means limited to children. Regardless of our age, always there is something new to be learned - a skill to be honed. The space of this collective pause extends to us a wonderful opportunity to get back to the long lost art of play. Not only is play a wonderful distraction, but it also offers a desperately needed pressure drop.
"To know how to play," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, is a "happy talent". My weekly self-engagements (intentionally) sport a bit of a "la-di-da" quality. Given that, my LENSBABIES are the perfect companion. For those who are unfamiliar with LENSBABIES, they are manual focus fine art camera lenses with names like Twist and Velvet and Swirl and such. They were designed specifically to invite photographers of all levels to see in a new way. "Let's be surprising," they dare to say. By removing the weight of "precision" and "nailing it", the product line nudges the user to loosen their grip resulting in a kind of poetry that I personally have not been able to tap into using traditional camera gear. I also tend to show up for these practice sessions utterly unprepared in terms of a subject or concept I plan to capture. Taking a cue from the (above quoted) teachings of Rainier Marie Rilke, I instead try to take any marching orders from "everyday life", and what it happens to be offering me. These days, my life experiences seem to be pointing my focus to "home" and the concept of being held, carefully and quietly.
Keywords:
breath taking,
camera,
fine art photography,
inspiration,
Lensbaby,
life,
mister rogers,
nikon,
play,
superflow
|
Subscribe
RSS
Archive
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
|