More Than a Rock

"The source of my inspiration may at times be inherent and  obvious, or it may be also implied or nuanced; it may be something common to many people or unique to my own way of thinking. As such my work is rarely a simple objective representation of what is in front of my lens. My goal as an artist is to focus my viewer's attention and inspire certain emotions by using those visual elements that best convey what inspired me to make an image. To an extent this can be accomplished through visual composition alone, and without the need for further adjustment, but not always. Do not confuse what is visible with what is real; despite a degree of overlap, they are not the same thing. What's real about an expressive image is never its objectivity, but how it is subjectively perceived." More Than a Rock, Guy Tal,  Rocky Nook, Inc. 2015 Used by Permission

Several years ago, when I entitled my blog, In a Different Light, I, more accidentally than intentionally,  used a multi-faceted metaphor. So by design or inspiration, the title serves a number of useful purposes. There is the obvious reference to the common expression "in a different light" meaning to look at something in another way.  There is a meaning from physics, from the photon packets that travel at 180,000 miles per second from the sun that  give us light and life. But the meaning most obvious to me is from the world of photography. Any photographic image is of something exposed by light onto a photographic surface such as film or a digital sensor. Without light, photography is not possible. Any photograph you view is a record of light.

For my recent birthday, my wife gave me two things: She gave me the green light to buy a camera I've been looking at and a gift card to Barnes and Noble. With that gift card, I bought The Universe in your Hand: a Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond, by Christophe Galfard and the book More Than a Rock quoted above.

More Than a Rock is mostly about photography, but it is subtitled "Essays on Art, Creativity, Photography, Nature, and Life". All the chapters are very short, so I am reading the book more as a devotional than as a book.  When I read the words that I have quoted above, as he is speaking about photography, I was thinking not about taking photos, but about writing. "The source...may be something common to many people or unique to my own way of thinking." Writing for me has been an exercise in bravery. Am I really willing to write and then to post on the internet how I really feel about things? To say a definitive "yes" would not be the whole truth. Anything you read from me is the abridged version from my actual thoughts, beliefs and feelings. But I think, believe and feel everything you read from me. " And what you get from me is always "unique to my own way of thinking."  If I simply repeat what I've been told is true by someone else,  then it may be somewhat helpful, but it is not "in a different light"; it;s not really me.

"Do not confuse what is visible with what is real; despite a degree of overlap, they are not the same thing."  Tal gets his title from an illustration about taking a photograph of a rock. He says that if you're going to take a picture of a rock, then the result needs to be more than a rock. Tal then suggests that if the resulting photo is not more than a rock, then why take the picture? When I write, I try to create something. I try to say something that hasn't been said.  If I talk about something I've talked about more than once, I try to say it in a different way.

"What's real about an expressive image is never its objectivity, but how it is subjectively perceived."  As a writer, I am keenly aware of the fact that what I write and what you read are entirely different. Whereas, I am writing with my own understanding of the English language and from my own experience, you are reading with your understanding of the English language and from your own experience.  In this gap is the miracle of communication where at least some mutual understanding occurs. I have received enough feedback to know that I am being heard, that what I have intended to say is being understood. This then feeds into that loop of creativity, that your understanding and appreciation inspires me to keep writing.

 "The source of my inspiration may at times be inherent and obvious, or it may also be implied or nuanced."  I've learned in writing that there is a difference between "feeling inspired" and "being inspired."  I often do not feel inspired to write when I want to write.  So then, why not wait for "inspiration" before writing anything?  If I "waited for inspiration" you would not be reading this. I didn't feel inspired to write; I just wanted to write. And I enjoyed writing this and hopefully you enjoyed reading it. Tal says that he wants to "inspire certain emotions" through his photography. In my case, I hope you feel something of what I feel when you read, but in reality you will feel something different than what I intended.  What looks to me like much more than a rock, may to you just look like a rock.