June 2011 - THIS week's PICTURE

Tom on the Rocks yet again, Blue Ridge Mountains, VA: Joiner photo by Malcolm Aslett

This is the third version I am showing of a series taken at a spot on the Blue Ridge. What is different here? Less sky and more rock. It reminds me of our blank spots in seeing the world around us. We automatically ignore large swathes of what is around us because it is information that is deemed less helpful than other stuff. Think of in a town, where we rarely look up and don't actually know what the buildings look like above eye height. That's right. The traffic is a more important thing to notice. So skies are rarely observed unless you are someone who is interested in them. Then, in a scene like this, how do we care to discriminate between similar looking rocks? We tune into them in a bland way and if our eye will focus on any rock here it will initially be the part where it is 'different' enough to make a difference - the big rock slightly off center and to the right. Rock joiners are simple to join for all these reasons and more. The viewer is not critical about the absolute logic of forms unless it is blatantly obvious something is amiss. (If you studied this one enough you would notice an aspect of untruth). Which gives me an idea for another picture. But pictures like this: are they like a dull cake topped with a sliver of icing to make it appetising? So much is passed over by the eye and becomes fodder rather than a well cooked meal. So a reminder then - a good photograph requires a contract between the maker and the observer involving what each will put in and leave out.