Monday, November 26, 2007

Challenge and Intrigue


"Take a picture of something you find intrigueing and write about why."
I put a challenge on the table, and then I was stuffed. I can't make a challenge without doing it myself - that would be a little unfair.

I found myself asking people I knew for help. Define intrigueing? What would you find intriguing? I googled it, possibly in a vain hope that the age of too much freely available useless information might be able to assist me. Instead I went onto a run of useless linking and wasted an hour of possible photo hunting time. The day was wasting.

There's plenty of things I find interesting or visually appealing enough to capture as a photograph. I find patterns in industry appealing. I find patterns in nature appealing. Look through my backlog of shots and you'll find a shitload of trees. In particular dead trees. And telegraph poles. I've just lately started to realise that unless you're a botanist, trees are cool for a few shots and then you're over it. I need a record of my people, as well as my places. This is what I find intrigueing lately. Faces, detail, personality.



A funny thing happens when you point a camera at a person. They try to hide. Or pose, if they're extroverted. Or be a dickhead, if they are somebody like me who is too lazy to hide. I've lost count of how many shots there are with me giving the finger. I've started trying to find the people, but not always the smiling for the camera people. I want the bored person, the pensive person, the captivated person and the contented person. The flash of a genuine smile. The reality.




These are my friends, people I can drag along on random trips to nowhere because I have a car and they don't. Come on. We're going somewhere. Where? Dunno. People who are happy to hop on into the car and waste an afternoon with no set destination. Who will find something amusing no matter what. These are my people. Real people.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

very nice people you got there!

dive said...

Wow, Vic!
Did she really exhale a cloud?
I always wondered where those things came from.
That is a fabulous photo.

She's cute. And so is Gayman.

Vic said...

Nina - Yeah, they are nice people. I'm glad I got to capture them.

Dive - Thanks, Dive. Exhaling a cloud - that's one I only saw after taking the shot. I got a couple of those, which is cool.

Anonymous said...

What an interesting concept, photographing people had become intriguing to you.
Well I guess there is no such thing as an original idea.

lady brett said...

i've been trying recently to be a conscientious subject (i used to be an expert at avoiding photos), and since i hatehate posed/posing for photos this has basically taken the form of pretending that i don't notice that someone's taking a picture.

i've also found that having a nice zoom helps with the candid shots ;)

your photos are just lovely, and your friends are cute.

Vic said...

Kate - There is such a thing as an original idea, when it is applied from a personal perspective. What I find intrigueing here is that so many people, myself included, feel the need to hide or pose in some way when there's a camera around.

I want to capture these people in this town so that I can look back on the last eleven years and have something more than trees and buildings to remember.

Vic said...

Lady Brett - Thankyou for your comments. I do the same thing, try to ignore the fact that there is a camera pointing at me. So I end up looking away, and there's not many shots where I look directly at the camera at all.

Zoely said...

nice pix girl!

Anonymous said...

Try photographing the white bull.

Iota said...

Random people on random trips... I'm so glad you called and got me to go to the Blue Hole yesterday (even if I am paying for it whenever I walk up stairs today) I had a ball. I don't want you to go!!! I want do be a random person on a random trip on a regular basis. With you. This has been my tantrum!