Normalcy

I love seeing completely normal things and making them something much more. For instance, my blinds, which have now become objects of two separate posts are very ordinary (click here and scroll down to see the other one). But this photograph is absolutely one of my favorites that I've ever taken.

A week or two back my English teacher took us outside and had us observe everything around us. Afterward, we discussed the things we saw. While everyone saw people, shadows, each other, cars, grass, I saw patterns, the lines made by the mortar between the bricks, the interesting angles that the metal stairs and safety rails created, and the geometry of the nearby parking garage. The point of the discussion was to get different perspectives on the same things to help us analyze a text from a different or more complex view point, and my professor seemed genuinely intrigued that I had such an artistic outlook on the environment we were in.

I see the world in such a visually different way now that I'm so focused on taking pictures everyday. I look at almost everything and think, how can that be turned into a visually dynamic image? It all stems from me trying to keep things new and not repeating angles, styles, subjects, lighting, etc. It's challenging, and I often find myself repeating angles, styles, subjects, lighting, etc, but has been really really rewarding.

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about
finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've
found it has little to do with the things you see and
everything to do with the way you see them."
- Elliott Erwitt