Learning to see the beauty of nature is, for me, one of the draws of Charlotte Mason's method.
But being in the city, sometimes it's not nature that catches my eye.
The city can seem gray and bleak. It's easy to get down if you see only gray day after day. It's easy to think that beauty - or color, or cheerfulness - only comes with a price tag or a trip to Somewhere Else.
But surprises exist.
He gave me a list that he had made for himself. I read his list, and I thought, "That's so easy."
But I didn't make my own list or look for anything in particular in any specific way. Even so, his idea stayed with me.
And I finally told myself, "It's never too late to learn to look."
Photos: A record of Yellow from (top to bottom) Brooklyn, Manhattan, Manhattan, Staten Island, Manhattan, Bronx, Manhattan. As soon as I get to Queens again, I look for yellow there, too, or for something else.
I've enjoyed this much. I think we loose the ability to look at what is so close to us... when I go to Europe now that I've been living for a while in the States, the cities pop up to me under a new light. I look like a tourist, with camera in hand, photographing doors, windows, even trash cans... ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteAnd it never occurred to me to find a list or theme.
Thanks for the inspiration!
I saw Jeanne's post with your comment about Shakespeare, and congratulations for making the best out of living in the city, which is, for example, the free shows!
I regularly look like a tourist too (but I don't stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk to look up - that's a sure sign of a tourist here). :)
ReplyDeleteNot in Madrid or Malta either... ha ha ha. We are as close as being as crazy driving as New Yorkers... ha ha ha! If I told you how many American friends have been mugged. And they tell me, I just left the camera bag on the floor for a split second... yep, that's exactly what it takes. Sometimes even as you naively carry it you get robbed.
ReplyDeleteThis is how I photograph when I'm in Malta or Madrid. I have the camera tied to my chest, and NO OTHER bag or anything with me, and my husband and in laws are in full charge of the girls. Then and only then I allow myself to look freely in every direction, once we have crossed in a rampage to the other side of the sidewalks on a green light, eh!
That's a smart way to photograph!
ReplyDeleteNew Yorkers do drive crazy, but I'm not one of them. It was a happy, happy day for me when we sold our car after moving here. My kids have never seen me drive and it probably has never occurred to them that I can, lol!.