Another shot from Parkdale, where you can gather al fresco.
Couches, chairs, a toilet, and a fire hydrant — what more do you need?
a September 1st, 2010
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Have A Seat
September 1, 2010 by Gail
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Defying Gravity
September 1, 2010 by Gail
My hair won’t do that, it’s too thick.
In other news, it’s 32C today and I’m wearing black from head to toe. And long sleeves. I’m writing this to stay awake on the streetcar.
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The Observer
September 1, 2010 by Gail
I was wondering recently whether there was any real difference between being a spectator and an observer. A spectator can observe, and an observer can spectate, right?
When I think of a spectator, I think of watching sports, especially sports I don’t play. I don’t really follow sports anymore, or sporting teams, because I’m at a stage in life where I choose different forms of entertainment and I don’t want to take up passive hobbies. I want very much to engage in the world around me. Sure, I’ll take those free hockey and basketball tickets that I get sometimes through The Firm (“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!” I was told many years ago), but I won’t pay for them. I’ll spectate, but I’ll bring my camera and take photos — of course! Then it can no longer be considered passive, I suppose.
When I think of an observer, I think of someone who will study the situation and be more attentive to what’s going on. However, when I look up the definitions, the word observer comes up a lot under spectator. Is it an expectation, then? Does that mean the observer is expected to notice more than a spectator? And a spectator merely an onlooker? Is whether a person a spectator or observer self-identified, or a judgement call by someone else?
Or, more importantly, why do I even think about stuff like this when I should be asleep?
Ever since I picked up a camera with the intention of making a photo that I could be proud of is when I stopped taking snapshots and started working on my observation skills. To draw a comparison, I’d say a spectator is taking a snapshot and an observer is “making a photo” — a literal translation for many languages. Some people call it “the eye” — and we all have two! why don’t we say “the eyes”? — but I think it’s much more deliberate than that, and it takes a lot of practice. I look at photos I took in my first year of owning a digital camera (2002) and they were nothing special. Maybe they improved in 2003, but I kind of doubt it. If I had “the eye” back then, it was closed! What I think people forget about is how much practice is involved, technical trial-and-error, and experimentation. But most of all, observation — and that takes practice, too. You can see the same things every day, but do you really notice what you’re looking at?
Sure, I take a lot of photos. But I try to make them all different, especially of things that look the same. The world becomes a much more interesting and exciting place when you’re observing it with both eyes open. In macro photography, for example, it’s a world within a world. From the sky, aerial photography becomes a bird’s eye view of civilization. Imagine photography in space!
Alright, time to close my eyes for a few hours…
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