Perspective in a photograph allows us to see where we are in the overall image. I like to disrupt my normal sense of reality by finding a different perspective in my photographs. Much of what I call “reality” often seems to be a sort of shorthand—even if a useful one at times—that can get in the way of my really seeing life.

I’m fascinated by looking at how photographs can stop time. My perspective as the person looking at the photograph then expands beyond “where am I in relation to what I see?” to questions like “what or who is this?” and “what were conditions like at that time?” For historical photographs especially this greater perspective can lead to remarkable transformations of the way I view the world and myself in the world. The documentary film, “Through a Lens Darkly,” provided me with many examples.

On a less philosophical level I enjoyed coming across a stored image of a garden spider in the center of the web I made several years ago. I love the perspective of the photograph, seemingly floating magically in space.

 

I also love the reminder seeing all that green that this weather won’t last forever, at least it hasn’t in past years! The  photograph itself is a disruption of what has become the reality of this long run of cold.

Even something as mundane as a table of high/low temperatures from the past six weeks provides an interesting perspective (6 days above freezing and 30 at or below 0F/-18C).

“What will things look like in another six weeks,” I wonder!

 

 

21 Feb This entry was published on February 21, 2015 at 9:54 am. It’s filed under John Snell, John Snell Photographer, Patterns, People, Photograph, Vermont, Winter and tagged John Snell, John Snell Photographer, perspective, photographs, Photography, Through a Lens Darkly, Vermont, winter. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.