1151 - Twilight

2009-12-08

Follow your instincts, huh? This post is named “Twilight”, because the image of the light on the chair in front of a shop in Vienna was destined to be Image of the Day, but when I looked at this uncertain, wavering path between all obstacles, I felt again why I had taken the image in the first place, and I just couldn’t reduce it to a thumbnail.

This is probably more about me or about life than everything else. This is the Image of the Day.

The second image is another one that I took this morning while walking through Villach’s outskirts, on my way to the train. I suppose these old houses will be gone by next year, replaced by a modern apartment block like those behind.

I took more images like this. It’s hard for me to tell what the point is. It is simply that I walk and look and see, and suddenly an inner voice tells me to “photograph this”. It reminds me of Paul Butzi’s recent post “Fuzzy”.

Read it if you haven’t yet. It’s about rationalizing the photographic process after the fact. It strikes a chord for me. Seeing is not analytic. It’s Go, not Chess.

When I changed the Image of the Day, the Song of the Day, “Twilight” from Vanessa Carlton’s 2002 album “Be Not Nobody” should probably have been changed as well, along with the title, but then, I like it, and thus we go on with the incongruity 🙂

Hear it on YouTube.

There are 5 comments

Juha Haataja   (2009-12-08)

I guess photography is also more than seeing. In a book about street photography there was an interesting chapter about rhythm - of walking. If you change your rhythm - from slow walk to normal walk to running to standing - it stresses you, and then you are no longer relaxed, in the flow zone, and it is hard to see and take photographs. So in that sense at least it needs a whole-body effort to take photographs. And I like the path.

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andreas   (2009-12-08)

Juha, that's only partly true, or at least practice can overcome it. I find now, that I can see and take photographs in pretty any situation, regardless of stress. There is definitely an improvement, and I guess it is connected to how much photography has become integrated into everything that I do. Going out without my camera makes me feel, well, not naked, rather insufficiently prepared for whatever may happen. Thus I never leave the house without the camera in my right hand, lens cap removed. Sounds crazy, huh? Well, most probably it is, but this constant readiness also fosters constant awareness. Yup, it positively sounds crazy, but I don't mind 😄

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Ken Trout   (2009-12-08)

Thank you for posting a link to "Fuzzy". I very rarely try to compose a photo "analytically". I wouldn't even know how to begin. I do it after the fact, but I still prefer to let intuition decide if a photo is good or bad. What stood out to me in your write up is comparing seeing to the game Go. I feel it makes sense. While playing Go, especially during the opening, you can choose a candidate move by intuition-- by how it looks. Before playing it, it is good to analyze it before choosing it as your move. Its like capturing photos based on feel, and then analyzing them when you choose your selects.

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andreas   (2009-12-08)

Yes, that's what I mean. For me, Go is much about balance and force fields, at least that's how it feels to me. Of course I can't really play. I've never tried playing against a good Go player. I learned the rules, played with some friends and won every single game. Then nobody wanted to play against me. I suppose I could not stand a game against even a slightly trained club player, but this intuition-based approach was at least successful enough against other beginners, that it completely killed off the game in my environment 🙂

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Ken Trout   (2009-12-09)

Go is a great game! If you liked it and have time, I encourage you try to find some more games. This is going to sound weird, but photography helps my go-playing and vice-versa.

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