Film - XXXIX - walking by

"If this pavement could talk, it would take an eternity to tell all the stories, of the paths of the lives, of the feet of the people that have trod upon it..." is the impression I get on initial impact.

For as long as this old man can remember, the community square has been a place safety, a place of rest from isolation, a place where he is no better or no less than those around him, it is his place, it is their place, it is the home of anyone that wishes it to be. It is shared without thoughts of selfishness tainting the cement that has faithfully borne the weight of those that have depended on it to carry them daily.

Is the vision of this image clear? No. This artist demands that the viewer constantly think and feel when perusing his gallery, he is going to break you of your lust for "instant gratification", and slow you back down to the speed that life was made to be lived, not used and discarded after being sucked dry of superficial pleasures. He must always surrender a full star somewhere in the rating because he is making you do the work. His vision is to show you... You!

The originality gets a divinely deserved 5 but why? "It is just a stupid picture of some people just standing around doing nothing? How boring, and it isn't even in color" is what many will say, but is it?

This artist has captured 5 generations of "their world", in "their home", with "their guard down", living life. Not the colorized facade of satisfaction that we want the world to see, the simple black and white truth of everyday survival.

For the technique I gave the artist 100 stars, but alas, only 5 would fit, so I will have to send the other 95 in a note to him.

Whether intended or not, the artists camera controlled him, the camera has a life of its own, it knows where the shot is, and it gently guides the eye and hand of the photographer to the shot. This is rare folks, not many artists like this, treasure him. Like the moments of time in his photos, he too will not last forever.

But why the gushing over technique????

Look at the clarity and the focus of the photo... The two oldest people (the walker and the sitter) are the clearest and most focused, but as the ages begin to become younger, they move away from the wisdom of the two old men. The man with the camera is fading away from them, then the woman and teen even farther and somewhat blurred, then the small child off to the side, and in the distance (his time has yet to come on the pavement, his life is still hazy because he has yet to begin making a place here in the square.)

Because of this technique, the artist again surrenders another whole star and gives it to you for impact. Glean the wisdom of the older men in focus, learn from them. Do an inventory of the man with the camera, look at where his life has been going. Contemplate the woman and the teen, and the things that are just ahead for them on the pavement. Enjoy the youth of the child as he begins his life, so clouded, in that haze of beginning, so many decisions to be made, which way will he go, what will he look like 60 years from now on this pavement when the camera's eye finds him?

This is a stunning portrait of the reality of our lives.

The older we get, the more clear things become.

Can you see it now?