dreams and nightmares - no. 22

hanging

Children see things from a different perspective....

dreams and nightmares - no. 21

circles

So much of our early childhood is spent in circles. Do you remember spinning round and round just for the sheer joy of feeling giddy?  Or riding a roundabout that goes faster and faster and faster? Circles create powerful memories.

As a child I loved to look into kaleidoscopes. In those days they were usually simple paper tubes with a lid-full of little brightly coloured plastic pieces at the opposite end to the lens.  There was such magic to be had by rotating the tube to create an infinity of constantly changing patterns.

I still love kaleidoscopes I have five wonderful wooden ones that continue to entrance me. This photo was taken looking down the barrel of one.

dreams and nightmares - no. 20

in search of new worlds

My first memory is learning to crawl. I followed the pattern on the carpet until I came to a spinning-top lodged beneath a sideboard. I remember the noise it made when I set it in motion.

Here are some views from the perspective of a young lady setting off on another adventure.

dreams and nightmares - no. 19

mr. fuzzy face

Forgive me for yesterday's posting. I just needed to get something out of my system before setting off on a new journey!  Let's start in earnest then on the assignment of the week -  seeing through the eyes of the child. 

To my mind this doesn't mean taking photos of children or of things associated with children. Instead, it means taking photos as if I am a child. Which of course I am. Just a very big one who needs to re-establish part of his identity.

When we're very young the world seems beautifully and magically confused! Each new day is a fresh challenge to make sense of the millions of patterns, shades, shapes and images that fill our eyes to the brim.  But then we grow older and we begin to impose an increasingly rigid set of rules on what we take in.  We focus on those things we deem important, filtering out everything else until it fades and disappears from sight.

I believe the task of the photographer is to overthrow this deadening hierarchy of vision, to seek out fresh ways of seeing. So I'm really looking forward to this challenge!

To help me break the bonds I've decided on to follow one simple guide-line.  Spontaneity - there's to be no detailed planning, no shoots lasting more than ten minutes and no fiddling with the camera controls ... unless, of course, it's to deliberately set up the camera incorrectly.

So here's Wednesday's child - mr. fuzzy face. He's not in focus, but does that really matter?