since then, i've carried my camera with me almost every single day, tried to find interesting things to capture and experimented with processing. shooting regularly has certainly helped me to improve. it's been quite a journey, so far.
along the way, i've shot a few images that have come to be my favorites... but they're getting lost in my photostream on flickr and within the thousands of posts on this blog.
... so i've decided to start reposting them, in a series i'm tentatively naming, showoff, along with a few thoughts for each one, on why they are special to me.
i'm going to start with this image which is probably my all-time favorite thus far.
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i like the intense antithesis of light and dark. i like how i suddenly felt inspired to depart from my tame preconceptions of what a picture should be, and, in a fit of freedom, flipped the image upside down, causing the figure, refracted within the sphere, to appear right-side-up.
most of all, i like the symbolism it holds for me: the mysteries of our cosmos becoming light and clear through science, as represented by the sphere of optical glass: in short, humanity's grasp for knowledge.
finally, i like that the model is my child, as i try to convey my love for science and rational thought to her.
on my original upload, i included the following quote:
'when you make the finding yourself -- even if you're the last person on earth to see the light -- you never forget it.'
-- carl sagan, the demon-haunted world
how ironic is it that, with all this meaning this holds for me, i received many comments about the supernatural and pseudioscience as prompted by what viewers perceive as a crystal ball. it seems that even a simple image like this can be received as completely conflicting content, depending on one's existing tendencies and world view.
this image is available for purchase as a print in the medium of your choice and it's also included in my photobook, ::50 bits to make you wonder::
©2010 helen sotiriadis
