I am working on a project tentatively titled "everything matters". They are mostly small, poignant, domestic shots. In working on it, I have discovered it is about growing up in a family that does not talk about anything that matters. I grew up in a staunch New England family where no one spoke about their feelings. As a result, I think it was a shock to my parents to have an artist in the family who wanted to express things. We still don't talk about anything "real" just superficial things and as a kid, I used to sneak around and look at objects in rooms in order to glean information. I think that is partly why I became a photographer.
I just looked up glean to see if I spelled it correctly and here is the definition. I think #1 and #3 apply to me:
glean
/glin/ Show Spelled[gleen] Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
1.to gather slowly and laboriously, bit by bit.
2.to gather (grain or the like) after the reapers or regular gatherers.
3.to learn, discover, or find out, usually little by little or slowly.
I love the word even more after seeing the film "The Gleaners" by Agnes Varda.
1 comment:
Sarah, I really liked this post. My family comes from the German farmer strain and also doesn't talk about feelings etc.--they don't really talk much at all! I think that is one of the reasons I became a writer--the page was a place to put those feelings I had no where else to express. Looking forward to seeing where this project takes you! Sybil
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