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An Imaginative Way of Seeing

R1231739L (Camera: Ricoh GX200)

The way we see things can be traced back to our formative years as a baby. Our parents taught us to associate words with the respective stereotype images. Say, at the very mention of a tree, what immediately springs to your mind is probably a usual tree that you see in the neighbourhood -- very likely the similar tree that you parents first showed you when you were small. A tree is a tree; how can there be anything special about it?

That will pose problems to a photographer.  There is not just one to stand for many.  To the contrary, even a simple image can be viewed and interpreted fairly differently.

When we do a general seeing, most images are seen in a way which confines to our mind's perceptions. They become as mundane as the learning of A for Apple, B for Boy and C for Cat. We are therefore deprived of many chances to do some eye-opening images.

The initial impression this scene arose in the author's mind was how the two larger boughs spread from the tree trunk.  The spreading is reminiscent of the shape of a person's walking legs. There, the author waited for the right complementary subject to walk past to reflect this thought in this final image. The post-processing to turn it into a negative representation was meant to make the reflection stand out, as well as to highlight the importance of envisioning with imagination the possibilities of a common scene.


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