All that sunshine

Photography has taught me to pay attention.

Pay attention to details but also to how these details combine to form a meaningful scene.

Pay attention to the quality of light and the juxtaposition of colors and textures.

Pay attention to what happens out there not just in my head.

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A certain kind of light

“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
Dorothea Lange

Did photography change the way you see things, the way you look at a scene?

It certainly did for me, although not sure I could say exactly how. Maybe it’s a certain attention to significant details. Maybe it’s the ability to “see” the frame in the apparent chaos of what the naked eye sees.

Maybe it’s being able to notice the quality of light. And this is what the photos below are about.

This is in response to Lens-Artists Challenge #162 – It’s All About the Light by Tina.

Moments in time

I chose a few photos that respond to this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Your Inspiration. Each photo was taken in a context (place, time, mood) that I find inspiring.

I tend to develop a strong connection with certain places and return to them again and again. However, it’s not the simple presence in those places that provides inspiration. It’s a mix of narratives and emotions built around them, sometimes linked to specific times of the day (or night).

Some other times, it’s the cool breeze of exploration and discovery. The thrill of the unexpected.

Dew-covered fields at sunrise (Belgium, 2018)
Afternoon sunlight in the backstreets of Alfama (Portugal, 2019)
The sea after sunset (Belgium, 2019)
The free-range horses of Transylvania (Romania, 2019)
Path towards the heart of the forest (Belgium, 2019)
Watching the sunrise from the dunes (France, 2021)

Dreaming in black and white

"They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees. 
It is underneath the coppice and heath,
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods."
(Rudyard Kipling - The Way through the Woods)

My contribution to this week’s Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge (CBWC): Large Subjects.