As I get a little more space after the residency I’ve been reflecting on my highs and lows, and what from the experience I will carry with me the most. One of those things I’ve found a little surprising. It isn’t the park itself, or my own photographic exploits. Rather, it is my 5 year old’s photography in the park. I knew that he would want to participate in photographing the park with me, so we brought an old smartphone specifically for that purpose.
At the beginning of the week he pretty much just took pictures of things I was taking pictures of. But by the end of the trip, he was finding photo opportunities on his own and it seems like he really was loving it. What a joy to watch. That’s not to say it didn’t grow tiresome at times, especially reviewing the photos afterwards. Like many of today’s smartphone photographers, where one photo would do, he took 30 or so. However, he really became proud of the photos he was taking.
And it wasn’t just random point and shoot. I guess through watching my process, after finding a suitable subject he would approach it from several angles, raising and lowering his camera until he got the framing just the way he wanted it. I think that process was especially neat to witness for me, because it is sometimes hard to attribute the same kind of talent or intent to a photograph as it is to a drawing. But through my observation of his methods, I have a much greater appreciation for the execution of his expression.
I look forward to letting him loose with a camera more often.
Below are some of his best photos. I did do a small amount of basic editing on these, the same that I would do to any digital photo that I planned to show, but the actual taking of the photo was all Jed. He chose the subjects and how he wanted to take the picture. Pretty impressive, right?
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