Tuesday, August 26, 2008

My lens

I love to take pictures. I always have, ever since I could smell the chemicals coming from the darkroom my dad had in our house growing up. He has been my only teacher, in whose class sessions I may or may not have listened to his explanations about aperture, focal point, and shutter speed. But I do know that a Single Lens Reflex camera is the most accurate way for the photographer to capture a moment. His experience of the image is reproduced almost exactly as he saw it when he clicked the shutter.

Taking pictures is one way we have of pausing life just long enough to take it in. It is like the silence when the symphony ends, before the applause. It is a breath. We take pictures of what we find important. Pictures are a collection of stories of our lives, and we have a singularly unique perspective. Our experience on the left hand side of that faded 4x6 is similar, yet totally different from the one of the person on the far right.

We all have a lens. A lens through which we experience life, see the world, dream the future. Our life experiences create our lens and make our view of the world unique. No person's lens is exactly the same.

My lens happens to be one that includes a single, as opposed to marital, state. And I have spent my share of time deliberating the "not marriedness" of my life. But I am neglecting to acknowledge the unique perspective I have on the world around me...one that may not have occurred had I been wiping noses instead of playing Uno with inner city children.

So this blog is my attempt to write about what I am seeing of the world, from the perspective of a single woman. I hope it can remind me to enjoy the beauty of the little things, the tiny moments that make up our lives and cause them to be, well, just as green as the other side.