Lost Thoughts: Life Reflections in a Vineyard
I couldn’t claim to know what the young Italian woman was thinking any more than I could know what the dog beside her was pondering. The original photo was taken during a 2012 visit to Italy with friends in a rented car. We stopped at a small farm vineyard to sample their wine, where an older woman with gray hair, with limited English, guided us through a tasting and shared details about how they produced their own olive oil. Since I’m not much of a wine drinker, I quickly lost interest when I realized the wine wasn’t to my taste. My attention turned to the vineyard surroundings in search of photographic opportunities, and that’s when I noticed this woman sitting on stone steps, looking forlorn, while a large dog lay beside her. Unnoticed, my first impression was that she might feel confined in her current life, perhaps imagining how things could be different. However, she could just as easily have been contemplating what she would have for lunch. In either case, the moment was made for a photo.
What a beautiful image. And, you probably had no idea you would process this image into a work of art it is at that time! I am impressed her look into whatever and wherever her thoughts have taken her. We could guess the rest of the day and never know. Absolutely wonderful image. This would be one to print.
I wouldn’t claim it as a work of art. It leaves me with mixed feelings about how much of it I can or should claim as my own. It’s based on my photo, yet altered to become something beyond the original. The wonderful moment captured hasn’t changed, but the new presentation leaves me unsure how much of it still belongs to me. Let’s face it, on my own, I don’t have the skill to postprocess it to this extent, or at least if I did, it would take me forever. Have a good weekend, Monte.