Meaning in photography and new prompt: "Stones"
Week of 2024-08-10 to 2024-08-16
From the tiniest pebbles to the grandest cathedrals, stones have been a fundamental support in the structure of humanity, since well… the STONE age!
Create and share photos inspired by this week's prompt, "Stones" on your Aminus3 website, Substack Notes, or linked in the comments on this post.
Substack community can tag
in your posts.Those of you posting on the Aminus3 community, add tag: #Am3-prompt-202433
How do you show meaning in your photos?
Last week we explored the idea of “Meaning” in photography. As a visual language, we can incorporate meaning into photos at many levels.
The elements that make up our pictures portray thoughts, feelings, and ideas, along with narrative and story.
Anna’s minimalist image, “Freedom”, of a seagull flying above crisscrossed footsteps, is both visually engaging, and conceptually rich.
Some photos incorporate universal imagery which represents meaning to millions of people, like Robert’s image, “I am…”
The meaning of some imagery is highly personal, as Mhelene reminds us of the way we honor our ideals through the art we inscribe on our bodies.
Some of the “Meaning” photos were an illustration of how profoundly people find meaning from the influence of others.
Giulio took us back to the late 1980’s with these images he photographed at the gravesite of Jim Morrison, singer from the band The Doors, from the world famous Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Juxtaposition is an effective medium of visual communication to show ideas through conceptual contrasts.
Ruthie’s photo, “Dead End” is a brilliant example as we see this very literal street sign adjacent to a cemetery which are both creatively composed together in the frame.
In his photo titled “Politique de l'autruche” (“Ostrich Policy”), Thami shows us a scene from Meymac, France of a highly relatable sentiment for much of the state of the world right now of “burying our heads in the sand.”
On Substack,
provided this enigma of an image. My interpretation was “Square peg in a round hole”, or something to that effect. What do you think?
A few photos from the week incorporated words and imagery to create additional meaning.
At a glance, this photo by yo of what appears to be a simple abstract work of art is a actually a complex multi-dimensional tableau full of many layers of meaning.
Some of you might immediately recognize the pattern of dots is braille, the medium of written words for the visually impaired.
The words represent a poem called "Le miroir" by Michel Cordebœuf, which is an invitation to consider how we see and interpret the world around us.
Dans un miroir
Est né un oiseau
Un oiseau tout bleu
Avec des plumes vertes.
Un oiseau tout jaune
Avec des plumes rouges.
Un oiseau tout violet
Avec des plumes oranges.
Cet oiseau est né
Dans le miroir d'une mare
Où l'arc en ciel prenait son bain.
"Le miroir" by Michel Cordebœuf
Translates something like :
In a mirror
A bird was born
An all-blue bird
With green feathers.
An all-yellow bird
With red feathers.
An all-purple bird
With orange feathers.
This bird was born
In the mirror of a pond
Where the rainbow took its bath.
Henny’s image and selected words is a great transition to our “Stones” prompt this week with her photo and the song, that inspired it, “De Steen” by Bram Vermeulen.
" ik heb een steen verlegd
in een rivier op aarde "
nu weet ik dat ik nooit zal zijn vergeten"
Ik leverde bewijs van mijn bestaan
Omdat, door 't verleggen van die ene steen
het water nooit meer dezelfde weg zal gaan "
~ De Steen by Bram Vermeulen
Translates something like :
I’ve moved a stone
in a river on earth
Now I know I'll never be forgotten
I provided proof of my existence
Because, by moving that one stone
The water will never go the same way again
Does every photo have to convey meaning? Apparently not!
As Hiro in Japan tells us about this pair of images,
“There is no particular meaning to this photo.”
Check out all the photos shared on Aminus3 for last week’s Meaning prompt.
Sometimes the meaning of things is unclear, but still fascinating. That's what I was trying to convey with my submission! Thanks for including it.