Ever heard…
“He/she looked at me?”
And the reply…
“Well he/she was looking at me!”
If you have children in your home, you have more than likely heard something similar. While I don’t enjoy this tit for tat squabbling the whole argument is quite hilarious.
So they are looking at you? What is that going to do? Do they have super hero powers and have laser beams shooting from their eyeballs? Is this ‘looking’ physically harming you?
The children will look at me as if I have said the silliest thing on the planet and then say…”Muuuuuuum! Buuuuuuuut, they WERE still looking at me”
Alright…they were. Let’s move on. Let’s put the laser beam eyeballs back in the holsters and eat your toast.
I came across this layout today by Lori J and I had to giggle when she mentioned a similar story in her journaling.
Lori captures the everyday perfectly. She shares tales of her children squabbling, the many hours spent in the car and even shows that she is someone that has her camera handy in situations like this (a true scrapbooker!) It gives a great insight into their lives and the perspective of the photo, puts you as the viewer right into the situation. I think that is amazing. Imagine when her children or grandchildren look at this layout in years to come and can visualise what their mother saw. What a gift!
Actually, this brings me to the topic of perspective.
“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” ~Anaïs Nin
How are you looking at things around you?
Have you tried looking at your environment from a different perspective?
Have you tried looking at an experience from a different perspective?
As scrappers, we often scrap from our point of view. That is what comes naturally and is usually the easiest road to take. We relate the story as we observe it.
But as you know…someone else may view the exact same experience in a completely different way.
Take the ‘they are looking at me’ game played by the children. It may make no sense to me…but to them…this is World War 3 and the battle of the eyes has begun.
I could create two layouts about the same story using different perspectives. My layout would probably include my feelings, my frustrations at the bickering and the seemingly silliness of the whole display. To my children…there maybe many underlying reasons why this eye fight began. Ask a few questions and I may find out that Cameron had flicked a boogie at his sister and then she gave him the stare down…and then he stared at her…and she stared at him…etc. Entirely different and probably a whole lot more amusing than my story.
Now let’s look at perspective when it comes to your photography. I loved Lori’s photo. She could have just turned around and taken a picture of the kids in the back seat of her car…but she used a different perspective and the results were fabulous. Think outside the box. Try something new in terms of how you set up a photo. It doesn’t have to be anything highly technical…it could be as simple as getting down to a child’s eye level and snapping away.
Imagine if you were to create a layout of a crawling baby’s perspective. Feet, chair legs, toys on the floor, long grass, kitchen cupboard handles. Sounds funny to think about doing a layout like that…maybe a bit silly but it highlights how you could really play with different perspectives with both your photographs and how your baby sees the world.
Or how your dog views the world.
{Create by Fee Jardine}
Have a play with perspective and you might create something fabulous!
Happy creating!
Fee x
PS. So have you created a layout using a completely different perspective either in your story or your photography? Please share in the comments.
