These senses of ours ...
Monday, August 17th 2009 @ 8:08 PM (not yet rated)
With the passing of Cherie's father-in-law, and "Grampa" to her kids, goes a man I've loved to hear music with. It's another sensory thing for me ... I love to use my ears as I also love to use my eyes: I stare at things, I watch people pass by, I note little details and curiosities ... and note the angles, lines, and juxtapositions of the "elements" of the objects and animalia around me all the time.
That's clearly a large part of why I was drawn to photography all those years ago: the need to SEE deeply into things, to ... stare ... in wonder and fascination.
And I love to use my ears: I hear things ... and can note things in say, the un-amplified human voice ... that many can't quite note. It's part of why I love the operatic voice so much ... it is producing a sound so on the edge of human capability, a sound where the simple beauty and grandeur of the instrument is the attraction.
Opera singers don't "shape" the sound so much as do pop singers, that is, play with the loudness and sound of each note. It's the sheer beauty of the instrument, as I've said, that counts. For those that can appreciate this, especially live, it can give chills, goose-bumps, and tears without needing to understand the actual words of the language being sung.
"Grampa" Ertsgaard got it; he couldn't discuss it in technical detail, as I can, for he didn't have the background and training in it. But the more important part, he got the chills and tears from the sound.
I don't know how many times we've sat together and listened to an amazing group of talented young singers stand and perform solos and small ensembles, and looked at each othe with tears down our faces at the sheer beauty of it all. Not perfection ... but simple, raw, unadorned BEAUTY.
That's what we should all strive for in our photography ... find that simple, raw, unadorned BEAUTY. And as we train our senses and hone our skills better, we'll find our photographic "stares" are more interesting ... more intriguing ... and at the same time, more satisfying.
And along the way, listen to the birds, the dogs barking, the thunder rumbling, and thrill to your ability to hear life around you. I can never again enjoy the simple thrill of music next to "Grampa". But we can share here on MyPhotoMentor the thrill of looking at ... and staring at ... our images together.
Live life, this great gift, while yet you can! And let's live it up here at MPM together!
rNeil
