Aug 10, 2016 |
Losing Focus in the Sea
“I’m bored.” It was my childhood mantra, typically reserved for weekends with my father.
Even as he watched the race cars go around and around, he could also recite a long list of recommendations for what I could do. I would pout, face smushed in my hands, elbows on the arm of his recliner, and deny every idea he had. “I’m boooooorrrrrrred,” I whined, probably more times than a Nascar race has laps.
One day he gave up on giving me ideas and he said, “well then, you must be a boring person.” In retrospect, I can say I agree.
I have to admit, some days I miss being bored… the vast emptyness of having nothing to do. Unless I live forever I’ll probably never experience it again, but at least I’m not a boring person anymore.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Aug 3, 2016
Drippy Whirlpool
I erupted through the surface of the water, gasping for air, “I can’t, I can’t do it.” I only made it halfway to the submerged mask before fear took control of my body.
My father enrolled me in a scuba certification program when I turned 15. I wasn’t a strong swimmer, but dad assured me, “you don’t have to know how to swim to scuba dive.”
He was mostly right, the gear makes you float, but to certify as a diver, I still had to pass a few tests. I kept afloat in the pool for the alotted amount of time, but when the instructor threw our masks in the deep end, I panicked.
I panicked all the way to my open water test in the Florida Keys. If couldn’t find my mask in a pool, how would I do it in the ocean? I was terrified that the instructor would let it go in a school of fish, the salty water would blind me, I’d never find it, and I’d fail.
I took my mask off, he motioned to put it back on, I cleared the water, and I passed. That was my first and last scuba trip.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jul 27, 2016
Spiny Reflection
“Somebody went to Cozumel and all they got me was this stinkin’ t-shirt.” That was one of the most memorable gifts I got from my father, and it was great for a laugh, but I don’t think I ever wore it.
My dad went away scuba diving every year and he always came home with a gift for me, it could be anything from seashells to foreign money, and he always had a freshly developed pile of slides to show me his underwater adventures.
The scuba trip souveneir I love most is this whimsical glass seahorse. Aside from a few shells, the seahorse is the one gift that survived my childhood and made it into my adult décor. It sits in a little cube in my studio that I’ve turned into a mini ocean view.
It’s also what I used to make the reflection in this photograph.
The ocean cube and my seahorse.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jun 10, 2016 |
I’m a reflective person, and I’m not just talking about the sheen from my sweating problem… da-dum-dum; I’m an overthinker. Such extreme thoughtfulness has its curses, but I’ve come to realize it’s what makes me so sentimental.
I cherish memories so much because I live them over and over again in my head, on paper, and then, sometimes, on this screen. It’s why photography is so important to me.
Every photo is a frozen memory. BUT every memory is also a reflection. AND every reflection is a distortion of the truth based on perspective.
In my next series I’ll be exploring all kinds of reflections, both literal and figurative.
