unoriginal
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and discover. All has been given, as the mystics say. We have
only to open our eyes and hearts, to become one with that which is.
~Henry Miller
I sometimes think I suffer from unoriginality. I understand that I’m a creative being, and I’m here, just like everyone else, to express this creativity by whatever means feel natural to me, and yet I notice myself becoming repetitive. How many babies have I sat in this same swing in this same light with this similar composition? I hesitate to admit quite a lot.
I think to myself, “I should mix things up a bit, look for a variation…..perhaps add a texture or consider some brilliantly saturated color. Photograph from underneath the swing or even leave the swing altogether and head downtown and photograph the baby in an alley. Good Lord, Cynthia, do something *different*!”
Perhaps I was born in the wrong time period, and belong in quieter, more simple era. Maybe I’m just not being brave. Or could it be, as Mr. Miller is quoted above, that when it comes down to it we truly invent nothing. All has already been given. What are we as photographers wanting most to achieve anyway? Simply to tell a story and to attempt to reveal the essence of that which we focus our cameras upon.
This baby is what’s original about this photograph. He is what matters most to his parents, and in this moment, to me as well. While there may indeed be more innovative ways to convey the divine within him, for me the seeking is better done with as little distraction as possible. I know this swing and I know this light, which frees me up to better uncover and discover him. He is what it’s all about.
Unoriginally yours,
~Cynthia
