Light, Water, & Stone | A shoreline along Lake Huron, Michigan | Nikon D810, 14-24 f/2.8
It probably goes without saying that many photographs you see have a lot of thought and meaning behind them that most viewers will probably never know about. The viewer takes in the visual content in and interprets it through their own set of filters and experiences. It is one thing to photograph people, as sometimes you can relate more directly to the expression, emotion or situation at hand. For nature and its elements, it can be difficult if you are thinking about something broader than “look at this scene or thing.”
These are just some of the thoughts that were rumbling around in my head when I was interpreting this scene. As I sat on this beach, with the sun rising in the distance, waves rolling on shore, rocks tumbling about – the thought of fluidity came to mind. It is probably an obvious thought given the water, but I also thought about the light and the rocks being changing elements as well – all with greatly different functions of time. So I thought – would anyone ever “get” that if I didn’t point it out? Light, water, stone – all changing in their own ways with enormously different rates. My answer to myself, probably not.
And does it matter? I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t. Interpretation is in the eyes and mind of the beholder. But I have to say, it would pretty darn cool if someone did link those three elements together without pointing it out myself.
Lovely photos in sunset.The hues and colors are amazing.
This is such great and thoughtful picture, if you wouldn’t have said those things i would have just looked at the fact that the light that reflects on the rocks have a mystical and magical image. I love how you didn’t just give it a small caption, however you gave the picture a meaning, warm but so tender meaning.
Thanks so much Jhoselin. I am glad you noticed the light because it is so central to the meaning behind the image, even if not directly obvious in the ways I have described.
My approach to most blogs like yours Mark, is that I tend to look at the photos first before reading the narrative and then see whether my interpretation matched that of the photographer. It rarely matches perfectly but on occasion there are some elements of thought which are shared. My train of thought from viewing your photo went something along the following lines: I first wondered about scale, was I looking at a macro of grains of sands or massive boulders on a massive shoreline? This sent my imagination deep into the quantum universe inside each stone to the stellar universe beyond our skies starting with our own sun which is seen reflected in the water and illuminating the stones so beautifully. I thought about the water wearing down the stones over a time scale far too big for me to fully appreciate. I picked out certain stones and wondered about their individual journeys, how did they get there? What is their role in the great scheme of things? Is their importance in that scheme any less than mine? Any more? Each stone will exist long after I am gone and yet they too will some day return to dust. And then even further along in time the sun too will die and with it, the light. So I wasn’t thinking so much of fluidity (the stones make up too much of the image for that association) but rather of the illusion of permanence. So we both thought in terms of time and in terms of change over time even if the concept of fluidity itself wasn’t shared.
In the end I don’t know if it matters whether a photographer’s impressions are correctly perceived by a viewer. I would say that a photograph succeeds when it evokes something, anything, in a viewer but a photograph certainly doesn’t fail if what is felt by the viewer doesn’t match what was felt by its creator.
Hey Cedric – I appreciate your insight on this. I do like your referral to the “illusion of permanence.” I think that in itself is just another approach to “fluidity.”
While we probably all wish our photos could be self-explanatory, I believe the narrative is an important part of the story. Without knowing the photographer’s intent, the meaning of a photograph can be lost on someone because their own filters leave them blind to it. Of course it can also introduce alternative meanings as a result of those filters, possibly not even meanings intended by the photographer. Most people are only going to see the literal subject anyway, but for those of us who tend to dig deeper, knowing what a photograph is “about” is more effective than just knowing what a photograph is “of.” These are words I’ve already used on another comment on a different blog, but I think they apply here just as well.
I have often read that photographs shouldn’t have to be explained if they are effective. But I think that line of thinking is short sighted to some of the added richness that can be had with a bit of narrative.
It is a beautiful and thoughtful photo! I particularly enjoy the play of light on the rocks.
It got me thinking that had you not relayed the information I probably would not have looked at the image that way, though I would certainly have enjoyed the photo. But that made a few thoughts pass through my mind:
Because of the volume of images on the internet we tend to not spend too much time on any one in particular. That is in distinction to a museum where we tend to focus in and think longer and deeper about artwork that grabs us. Had this been in an exhibit or had I a physical print, would I have gotten the message. Or as e.brooks pointed out, would I have gotten A message even if it were different than the one you intended?
As Brooks Jensen sometimes points out, are words accompanying the image to lead us down a certain path necesarily a bad thing?
How often do our images actually have an intended meaning like the one you pointed out, as opposed to being ‘look at this beautiful landscape’?
I don’t have any answers, but your photo did get me thinking!
Thank you for your thoughts here Howard. In many ways, listening to songs can be very similar. You may like a song or a set of lyrics… But to hear the backstory behind the creation of that song and more detail behind what the lyrics mean gives you an entirely new level of appreciation.
Well I am glad you like the photo and this prompted a bit of discussion amongst all these respected photographers!
Great analogy to songs. Sometimes you have no idea what the lyrics mean and when you do you generally like the song that much more.
A photographer or filmmakers work always means more them than to the casual viewer.
There are probably thousands of reasons why we capture something in nature. To those viewing our work, the reason can be obvious or, it can escape them altogether.
Whatever your thoughts were when you pressed the shutter, the result is beautiful.
I have to thank you for pointing out the theme of change. It helped me stay with the photograph longer than I might have. And as I was living with the image, another theme occurred to me: motion. The water moves and in moving causes the stones to shift. But the stones have moved even more, if you count the mountains and bedrock they came from. And then there is the sun, moving in the space of the galaxy as the galaxy expands ever outward amid all the galaxies and the expanding universes of creation. Yes, a journey.
Indeed, motion is part of the fluidity! I think the motion could be thought of the changing, but also the physical displacement. Thank you for your remarks Linda.
You are probably right, few will look at this image and think of each element as one constant change. As a nature photographer the time spent contemplating on that seashore was a part of your constant changing or maybe a better word is transforming. When you go through those changes then the viewer will have much more to see and hopefully it will change them.
My view is the interpretive process alone is the prize no matter what the final conclusions because as you stated we each have our own filters. The three elements so beautifully presented in this photo , light, water & stone, are apparent and provide the catalyst. Taking it from there depends upon the fuel my own life and experience furnishes. For instance…I thought of another element present in this photo…air…which gave me four elements which made me think of the film “The 5th Element” and then the actual fifth element from the film…love. Then I started thinking of it in other ways. Yea, weird, but the key is, your photo was the spark and it took me on a journey! Now that’s cool!
And hence you now have me associating Bruce Willis with this photo! gee thanks Brooks! 😉
I seriously appreciate your remarks here though. Hey, sparks of imagination can never be bad.