Inky Orchard

Hee hee – this is a letter I just got from my dear grandparents. Silly Grandpa put the stamp on upside down. I am not quite sure why I find this amusing enough to put this on my blog.

Rather, this funny happening reminded me of the photographs I took of my grandparents while I was in MO for Christmas.

Hands hands hands. I love them. Especially my Grandpa’s. I absolutely love this photograph. It was a stroke of accidental brilliance. At least I think so. What do you think?

This is my beautiful Grandma Sue. She writes in only capital letters just like Mom. Make sure you click on this photo to make it bigger – it’s worth it.

Silly Grandpa, he made some pretty hysterical faces right before this, but I prefer his natural expressions. I really like the combination of colors & patterns for some reason. It is oddly satisfying in its quirkiness.

Usually, my obsessions are concentrated on hands (see above), but lately I have taken to ears. Specifically women with wispy strands out of place and delicate earrings.

And out of respect to my grandparents, this is how I KNOW they prefer to be represented:

I can get away with getting uncomfortably close to them with my camera – all because they love me. This is how I so often wish I could photograph the people I meet and adore. All the little details I observe – preserved forever. The details constitute a  portion of reality – more prominent in my world than most. But to the average viewer, this would not be considered documenting reality… mainly because I am selecting small details to represent entire persons.

I guess that’s just my vision. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

* P.S. Check out this link to KayLynn Deveney’s work if you enjoyed these images at all. She spent a good deal of time getting to know an elderly man named Albert Hastings – all while documenting the small moments of his day-to-day life. I stumbled across her work in our college bookstore and fell in love with it – especially the handwritten, interactive aspect between artist and subject.