Wednesday, June 24, 2009

365 - 35: Rain


I sent off the first draft of Slovakia last week (without ever coming to a good understanding of Austria-Hungary), but I'm having a hard time getting back to writing, I mean really writing, a post here.

It's what I remember from when I was writing regularly on geography books: I couldn't write my own stuff. The work knocks off-balance the delicate mechanism that generates personal writing.

In the meantime, I've been liking this self-portrait project more than before. Not because the pictures are great, though I do think they'll look cool put all together at my birthday in March, but because it pushes me--or gives me an excuse--to look at and engage with the physical world, including my camera.
It started to rain this morning and I thought, how can I photograph myself in the rain? I went down to the backyard and tried to use a plastic bag as a camera umbrella but ended up liking this photo shot through the plastic bag better.
It's stopped raining already. If I hadn't given myself this assignment, I'd have sat it out.

3 comments:

  1. another great photo. Love the plastic bag's effect.

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  2. Yeah, wow, so true, writing to someone else's specs knocks off that delicate, personal balance. I just worked myself silly to meet a submission deadline, and it was hard, but since it was a very personal essay, I feel as though muscles have been strengthened, sort of. At least that's what your musing has helped me discover. Thanks. (And I like the pic.)

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  3. Bink: Thanks!

    Deanna: I hope we'll get to read the piece you wree working on?
    I've always shied away from writing personal stuff on spec--I seem to clam up or get very pretentious... Maybe if I worked on it, I'd loosen up--like stretching a muscle? But for now, the blog stretches me plenty.

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