A Lesson in Photography

There are many great details in life. Any painter would tell you that.

In fact, anyone whose work reflects these days creates shadows.

How does a person draw upon details in a way that is advantageous?

How are they knit?

So I hand fed a bird. And sparrows eat my lunch with me.

I watched a man ride a wheeled chair pulled by two huskies down a city sidewalk.

I saw an apple-cheeked older man with a red nose bobbing along the street in jovial strides with decorative cocktail drink umbrellas in his Canada Flag-inspired hat. He waved and grinned at my stares.

A 69 and 70 year old man sat down to discuss law and dancing Scottish ladies over cake with my friend and me. I don’t know their names. I’m only 22.

I ride the streetcar early in the morning with a Japanese man with perfectly chiseled features and a mysterious and wise air. We would discuss myriads of books, most of them scientific and philosophical. I’ll describe, he’ll explain.

A 17 year old boy sitting in a full subway car flipping a Rubik’s Cube in one hand, spinning colours to and fro, solving it every 30 seconds. Scrambling it takes longer.

I called a little girl a muffin with her crop of wild curls. She declares she’s no muffin, giggles and runs away.

And so on. Some things are smaller. Some things are only ambiance. They only really strike if something changes in perception. There is the 50 % contrast, 50% brightness setting on every day life. It’s not really a quality description, nor is it the bare minimum. It’s like a person’s salary. And the things that I notice that move me, are when the light changes, or the composition is astounding or when one is paid in something other than money. Like a smile.

How do I tell you about the shifts of a percentage without boring you? How do I use them to tell you a story? They relate to nothing. There is no advantage to you knowing them. They are my personal enjoyments. So I ask you how.

But the why is easy. The shift in focus makes it seem like a missing community experience. Something that you would report in a small town newspaper. It would be entitled “Important Things” and in the wintertime would be a column next to the list of completely frozen ponds that await figure eights.