Body & Soul is almost three years old, but this is a version I just made yesterday. It's one of those photos I've held on to through several different crops for some reason, none of them satisfying. The original is a much larger and distant view of the bird and shadow, and also very tilted. Not 'til yesterday did I think to re-align it a bit, crop in even tighter, and reverse the colors and change them. Although still not totally satisfying, it's close enough to leave it be and share here. Paul Valery said: A poem is never finished, just abandoned. And I'd say that's true of any artistic effort of mine. I just reach a point where I can think of nothing else to improve or fix it. And if that point is far enough along, I keep and share it. If not, I delete it or put it on a very distant back burner.

As to this picture, I suppose most folk will view the actual bird as the body and the shadow as the soul. However, one can look at it another way. In a (maybe not so) metaphoric sense our souls are the most substantial aspects of ourselves. So in this image I can see the soul (on the left) stepping out of the essentially shadow life of its body (on the right) at death. And if one does view the bird as body and shadow as soul, the bird could be seen as tilting it's head to listen to the soul, even as it tries to walk away from it. I.e., this photo could be seen as the experience of a deep split between body and soul; a need for healing. And typing all this just explained to me why I've held on to this problematic photo for so long. It was "whispering" to me and I couldn't "hear" it until I made this version. Of course none of this means that the above is a successful picture. Just another symbol into which I've poured some unconscious contents.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****