Just An Essay

From time to time I give myself "assignments" in photography. I have done landscapes, cropping in as far as I can, water, time-lapse photos, fireworks, perspective, several different things. But tonight something else occurred to me.

My mother was a school teacher. She taught for over 30 years. Her favorite, and longest tenure, was teaching U.S. History. I had enough U.S. History to last a lifetime (I thought), but now I am grateful for having been exposed to it. But the other thing she really enjoyed teaching was Art. I think she was a frustrated artist. Her brother, my uncle Ken, was a very gifted water colorist and her youngest brother ( my uncle Ivan) was a terrifically gifted musician. My mother tried watercolor, as well as other media, but was, at best, a mediocre artist and was only a technically competent pianist. Thus, I think she felt she wasn't an "artist" of any kind.

But mother's photographic skills were excellent. I don't believe she ever recognized that photography was an art. She used slide film, the chosen medium of her day. She had one camera for color film and the other for black and white. Though she loved perspective shots, some of her more favorite subjects were clouds. Her "excuse" for photographing clouds was that she taught art and her students needed to see how clouds really looked in nature. Personally, I think she just loved clouds. When she passed away in 1972, I inherited her cameras along with her passion (and apparently) her ability as a photographer.

As I relaxed on my deck late today, I looked up to the sky, mostly to see what the weather might bring for the coming evening. The clouds were stringy and illuminated by the rapidly waning sun. Beautiful patterns emerged with the high winds making me think of clouds that mother would have photographed for her students to study. I suddenly realized that the "students" were only an excuse for her to take pictures of something that she probably enjoyed immensely and never ever thought that it could simply be "art" to take pictures of them. I ran for my camera and snapped away. I don't know how or where I will use these photos. I think I will most likely print one or two in large format and frame them. Perhaps someone else will gain insight from them as I have today.