SHER: July 4th Art as a New Way of Seeing

Sher HoroskoBy SHER HOROSKO
Cape Charles Wave

July 10, 2013

Photography is a new venture for me.  I’m about nine months into it.I never wanted to use a camera because I thought it would separate me from whatever I was experiencing.Upon buying one, I established a firm rule: If the camera ever gets in the way of feeling the wonder in front of me or saving someone or something, ditch the camera.  Staying faithful to this rule allows me to shoot freely.

I’ve discovered a camera allows me to experience something over again.  Most importantly, I  see things I missed in the actual moment.  I am less interested in re-presenting the action than in conveying the feeling it stirs in me. Here are a few shots from the 4th of July that I re-lived.

Art is a way of seeing the ordinary in a new way.

I got a late start to the fireworks.  Traveling down the driveway, we headed for the lights in the sky.  “Some folks chase storms,” I said. “We chase fireworks.”

We ended up in the parking lot at Aqua.  I took this shot of the flag in the dark when the fireworks ended. (I had no idea another round was about to begin on the other side of town).

It reflects how I feel about our country now — a lot of darkness surrounding a great light.  We are more divided than I ever remember being, but the light still shines on us.  It is easy to light a fuse and blow up a bridge — and much harder to build one across the chasms that divide us.

We need to build more bridges.

We all have things happen in life.  They can keep us in or down or feeling sorry for ourselves.

I loved watching these guys — how they moved around, smack dab in the middle of the music, how they were drinking the whole thing down.  They could have had a sign on the back of their chairs: “Live your Life!” But they didn’t need to.

Inspirational folks don’t carry signs and they don’t even mean to be inspiring. That’s the beauty of it. [Read more…]

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