“Maybe it’s not about having a beautiful day, but about finding beautiful moments. Maybe a whole day is just too much to ask. I could choose to believe that in every day, in all things, no matter how dark and ugly, there are shards of beauty if I look for them.”
―
https://meanderingpassage.com//wp-content/uploads/images/2020/04/EBM-20120707115251.jpg
The story behind the photo –
t was in Venice, Italy, sunny midday in July 2012. I remember it as humid and hot. The sun was reflecting off both canal waters and the buildings lining the narrow walkways. What little breeze there was felt like someone had opened the door of an oven.
Four of us had been walking most of the morning. Our younger friends were in the lead as we did the “tourist thing” en-route to the next now unremembered Venice point of interest. Bonnie and I were keeping pace as we didn’t want to be those “boomers” holding everyone up.
Venice was busy, and we were weaving and working around those who had stopped or were walking slower. As we crossed one of the hundreds of canal bridges, I paused and raised my camera to take a peep through the viewfinder. I don’t believe I initially intended to make this photo. Without a longer lens, it was chaotic with a multitude of architectural lines and people. I was curious to see how the view would frame, but as soon as I brought it to my eye, a small boy in the center of the next bridge wearing a baseball cap and orange t-shirt staring intently at me seized my attention. I was “caught!” It was a power shift, and now it was I who was the subject of his curiosity. Almost by reflex, my finger pressed and captured this photo. I remember bringing the camera down from my face and raising a hand, to which the small boy responded with a wave of his own then quickly continued crossing the bridge.
It was such a small thing, a brief connection, and an enjoyable few seconds still remembered. The boy was small and smaller, even as captured in this photo. Without the story, he’s hardly noticeable. But when I see this photo, it’s about that small boy standing under the crescent window in the center of the next bridge over, everything else in the picture is context.
This post is the first time for sharing this photo and my story behind it. I’m sure there are many photos where the photographers could recant stories about what makes an otherwise unremarkable photo special to them. It’s a human thing. :-)
When you mentioned the boy, I thought he was fishing from the bridge. I saw the curved line near him and thought it was a fishing pole. :-)
Thanks for sharing the story. It is interesting that now with the story in mind, my eyes travel right to the boy when looking at this. I think he is helped also by the higher contrast semi-circle over his head as an attention-getting contrast element.
p.s. – has someone been doing some theme tweaking? Looks good!
It is interesting how what we know influences what we see. I hadn’t noticed it looks like the boy is fishing, but now that you mentioned it…
Thanks. Yelp, I’ve been doing a little tweaking on the theme. I’ve got plenty of time these days. Haha! Hey, it’s all your fault, Mark! You’ve set such a high benchmark with “Grafphoto.” :-)
While I appreciate the thought – I am no benchmark (maybe a Benched Mark?) :-) It is an endless tweaking pursuit if you let it for sure. There is always something bugging me that I can’t get “just right.”
You’ll always be the most critical visitor your web site will ever have, as I am mine! ;-)
Isn’t it amazing how a single still frame can bring back vivid memories. I find the same thing happens to me. I don’t have the greatest memory but when I look at a photo I took I can remember the spot and who I was with very clearly.
It is amazing, Howard. Often I’d be lucky to remember what I had for lunch yesterday but like with this photo, and most others, I can recall the exact moment in great detail. A real bonus of being a photographer.
Lunch?? Lol, no idea what I had!
Unless you are good at interacting with people, those moments are accidental and few and far between. That was good timing, both for you and for the boy!
I find most of these situations are serendipitous. We can only assist by being aware, being open, and being in the moment to recognize them when they occur.
I missed the boy entirely until I read your post. What an interesting story and image. I am glad you were pulled to him by that something inside of you. This one of the reasons I so love photography. Just love it.
A very normal reaction, Monte. The boy becomes the focus of the photo once you’re aware of the story behind it. I like this about photography too. :-)
Nice capture Earl. When I saw it my eyes started in the bottom left corner, travelled upwards to the bridge then across it and stopped, coincidently, at the boy. My reason for stopping there however, is that the arched window above the boy looked very much like a 2D umbrella, making that little part of your photo remind me of a painting I once saw but cannot recall at the moment. In any case, your image created a lovely moment for me as well. Thanks.
Thanks, Cedric. From my efforts to look at the photo with a “fresh eye,” I think your eye path was pretty standard and that arched window is certainly a little unusual and a strong feature. The boy probably wouldn’t be a key feature if not for the story of the events leading to its creation. So there are almost two stories here. The story I wrote in this post about the boy and how this photo came to be made and then a second story, which has come to light in these discussions, about how knowing the creation story changes the perception of the photo. More interesting than I thought. :-)