I don’t really know why I was out of sorts because nothing went particularly wrong.
In fact, lots of things went right – I had two terrific Zoom conversations with friends, I spent some time drawing and writing, it was sunny out for most of the day – but I felt a little under the weather, I couldn’t really settle into my work, and I had to push myself to do even the simplest things.
I even had to push myself to go for a walk this afternoon – an activity that is automatic about 90% of the time.
I’m sure Khalee would have forgiven me if we didn’t walk today but I didn’t like the idea of her missing out on a walk on a warm, sunny day.
Since I was having trouble with the push to walk, I decided to try to add a ‘pull’ factor – I challenged myself to take a photo as many beautiful things as I could without Khalee losing her patience.
And that worked out pretty well – it made my walk into a series of small strolls between photos and I was reminded of how many lovely things I can see even on a short walk.
All in all, this small photo challenge was a good way to finish my Monday.
And if you’re having trouble getting out for a walk, I highly recommend going off in search of beauty.
I really liked seeing all of these clusters on white flowers on the tree branches reaching toward the path. Image description: a cluster of small white flowers on the top of a tree branch that has relatively small green leaves. The background is out of of focus but there’s grass and trees and the sun is shining through here and there. I really liked the contrast of the green branches and the purple cones with the blue sky in the background. Image description: a photo of the underside of a spruce tree looking up towards the sky. another set of branches, up very high, is visible at the top of the photo and the deep blue sky is visible on several sides. The tips of the spruce branch are laden with new cones that are growing. Some are green and others are a soft purple.When I was young, my friends and I played ‘spies’ in the small wooded areas along this path. Little alcoves formed by the trees were our favourite hiding places. Image description: a photo of a wooded area with a clearing between the trees, the entrance to which is partially blocked by trees that are leaning far to one side. Khalee, my light brown dog who is wearing a blue neckerchief is in the bottom of the photo.I take so many photos of the sun on the greenery and the river in this particular spot on the bridge. Image description: a photo of a river that is so overgrown that there are just two or three pools of water easily visible between the greenery and the rocks. The sun is shining down on all the trees and shrubs and grass making it area look very lush. Something about the shape of this cloud was really pleasing to me and I also loved how looooooong the street looked in this photo. Image description: a photo of a street near my house that seems to be leading me right toward the most prominent long white cloud in the bright blue sky. The sun is a bright shape with a kind of aura around it in the top of the photo and there is a series of trees, houses, and cars, as well a sidewalk along the left side of the photo, and a few houses, trees, and cars on the right.I took this photo on my front lawn where this lilac tree keeps blooming despite (because of?) my benign neglect. Image description: a close-up photo of a lilac branch with bright green leaves and with the lilac flowers still closed up in dark pink buds. There are houses and cars out of focus in the background and blue sky above.These small orange flowers are apparently a type of poppy and they also thrive under my benign neglect in a planter next to the lilac tree in front of my house. I will be pulling the grass out of the planter once I get around to it. Image description: a top-down photo of some small orange poppies amidst a variety of green plants and leaves and a smattering of grass stalks. On the right side of the photo there is the edge of the wooden planter and a few rocks scattered on the dirt that is part way under my front steps.I think Khalee is just as beautiful as the trees, the flowers, the river and the cloud, of course. Image description: a photo of Khalee, a medium-sized light brown dog whose face, paws and chest are white. She is wearing a jaunty blue neckerchief with blue daisies outlined on it. She is standing in a shadow on a patch of grass with a sunny spot just past her. Only her front paws and her head is in the shot and she has her head turned slightly towards us so she is looking into the camera.
Fitness imagery has never been that realistic but in the past, here on the blog, we’ve worried about Photoshop and digitally enhanced fitness imagery. Feminists worry that women’s bodies are being judged by unrealistic standards that even fitness models themselves can’t attain.
But now the worry is a little bit different. It’s that some of the images aren’t just digitally enhanced, they’re entirely made up. AI generated images are harder and harder to tell apart from the real thing.
Me, I love photos of older active women and I often share them on our Facebook page. When I saw the picture below of the older women skateboarding it seemed like a natural thing to share and I didn’t look into its source. Some of our Facebook followers did though and it turns out that it’s image created by AI.
It’s been a week for thinking about photos. Christine kicked it off with her post about seeing her strength and power reflected in recent photos she’d had taken. See Through A Different Lens: Seeing My Power Now. It’s a great post and I love Christine’s expressions in these powerful photos.
And then two things in my newsfeed got me thinking about photos and the images we share of ourselves online.
I liked Bodyposipanda sharing their outtakes. That was the first thing.
And then second, I read feminist philosopher Kate Manne’s essay on being captured by photos and how uncomfortable the whole process makes her feel.
Here’s an excerpt,
“I had imagined myself breezing into the photo shoot (done outside for COVID safety reasons) and saying airily to the photographer, “Just make me look like myself.” In reality, I was shy and sheepish, and inquired as to whether he could photoshop out the chickenpox scar that haunts my left eyebrow.
The photographer himself was professional and courteous and made not one comment on my appearance—a baseline level of decency, to be sure, but one which I was grateful to him for meeting. The college News & Media Relations Manager I work with here was delightful and supportive as per usual.
And yet I was never comfortable. I was never at ease. It took 1.5 hours and afterward, I was exhausted. I came home and had Szechuan food delivered, and eschewed writing for the evening in favor of some good, bad television. It was just like in the old days, when I still lived in the world of Events, not of Zooms, which I unlike many others find much less sapping. Not having to be a body in public has saved me so much time and energy and willpower and has thus given me, ironically, the capacity and critical distance to write about it in a sustained way for the first time in my life. Strangely, it feels good to write about something that feels so terrible.”
All of this made me reflect on my recent photoshoot with a U of G School of Fine and Music alum, Trina Koster. Sarah and I needed new work headshots so we went together and had fun with that.
The top one is the one I’m using now. Bottom left was a warm up photo to get me to relax. And bottom right was a more staged theatrical one we did once we were having fun with the whole thing.
And then a friend on Facebook–thanks Ray!–had more fun with Game of Thrones mood photo, bottom right, by photoshopping a sword for me. Others suggested I also needed a regal white ruffle!
Love the sword!
My advice to women in professional roles where people routinely ask you for photos is to take control of the process. Find a photographer you like and trust. Tracy, Nat, and I all recommend Ruth of Ruthless Images. I had a very good experience with Trina here in Guelph too. Relax and fine someone who’ll make it fun for you.
A friend on Facebook said that he thought his attitude to professional headshot photoshoots is different because of his experience with selfies. In an age where we take our own photos a lot and we’re used to seeing our image online, he said he now finds having his photo taken fun.
How about you? What’s your experience of being photographed?
