"Every evening, on the way home from work, I pass the same red-and-white fire hydrant, which is set into some reedy bushes on a little promontory overlooking a harbor. I often stop to take a picture of it: its red registers as warmer in summer and cooler in winter, and its white adopts the yellow of scorched grass in late summer and fall.... I think with some regularity of a remark made by the British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr, who once told an interviewer that the meaning of life was 'enjoying the passage of time.' Everyday photography, with its implicit emphasis on what recurs, makes enjoying the passage of time a little easier.... [N]o, you’re not likely to wring transcendence out of the mundane on a regular basis. You can, however, learn something about yourself and your world by doing or attempting to do these things. Even amateur hour becomes golden hour, sometimes."
Writes Joshua Rothman, in
"What Can You Learn from Photographing Your Life? Pictures of the mundane can capture much more" (The New Yorker).
I regularly go out at sunrise, and when I go, I always take photographs. But then I also, with almost equal regularity, go out for a second walk, and I rarely take photographs. But I did take one yesterday — the forest at noon:
16 comments:
Ahh, yes. The significance of the passage of time…
The sympathetic reverberations, variations of viability and Diversity in Nature.
Your comment about the passage of time brings to mind one of my favorite Kamala quotes:" The significance of the passage of time, right? The significance of the passage of time. So when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time...there is such great significance to the passage of time." This is almost as profound as ""It is time for us to do what we have been doing. And that time is every day. Every day it is time for us to agree that there are things and tools that are available to us.."
I'm liking your tree photos. Wisconsin in very beautiful
Time goes, you say, but no-
Alas, time stays. You go.
In the great tradition of Claude Monet: "Created between 1890 and 1891, this series of approximately 25 paintings is an artistic investigation into the transient effects of light and color on a seemingly mundane subject: haystacks in a field near Monet's home in Giverny, France."
I remembered that it was a tree but the internet informs me that Hirayama was photographing Komorebi, the sun rays that filter down through tree leaves.
I'm okay with that.
Doing the same thing over and over and getting a different result.
There seems to be a fisheye effect, but perhaps the trees on the right are leaning toward the center. Nice location to get a midday shot that isn't washed out by a vertical light source.
The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There ain't nothing to it
Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill
But since we're on our way down
We might as well enjoy the ride
J.T.
I'm puzzled by why this article appealed to Althouse.
Anyone here beside me notice that when Kamala is boarding her plane she is now returning the salute before ascending the steps. Has she assumed the role of CIC?
"What can you learn from photographing your life?" In my case it's photographing my world -- which is much more interesting.
Althouse, don't have anxiety about your daily picture-taking habit. I'm sure that Meade will tell you if you become overly obsessed.
Change is a constant.
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