Saturday, April 3, 2010

The story behind the photo

I love using my camera to capture the beauty of everyday life.  The smiles of my kid.  Their little fingers and toes.  The sunsets and sunrises each day.

It doesn't matter that the day was terrible or the kid was misbehaving or the photographer felt like she was going to puke, if the photo is beautiful, we believe the moment was beautiful as well.

But that's not always true.  It's a mirage.

For example, we have a beautiful cherry blossom tree in our front yard.  It's been absolutely stunning this week.  But I can't seem to capture its glory.  There are tons of power lines that weave through it's branches.  Then there's our car, our neighbors cars, and the houses trapping it in.  I just can't seem to get an angle.  So I've been taking close-ups.




And they are pretty, aren't they?  But these close-ups are not the whole story.  Here is what the scene really looked like...


Not as nice, is it?
Another close-up of our neighbors magnolia.  It's such a beauty...


And the setting behind this photo...


 power lines, old cars, and chipping paint.

So, while I love the camera for the beauty it can find, it's not always as it seems.  The whole story is not always told.

3 comments:

gwen said...

Awesome post, Emily. A new way to look at photos - but I'd rather enjoy the mirage!

Emily said...

real life! I like it:)

Anonymous said...

this gives me two thoughts.
1. As a historian, I appreciate how each perspective gives a piece of the story, but not the whole story.

2. As a Christian, this reminds me of the gospels, each one is not the complete story...