About a month ago, thanks to twitter, I learned of a new exhibit at The Denver Art Museum: Robert Benjamin: Notes from a Quiet Life. Though I haven’t yet been to the Museum to see the photographs, its description made me stop and think:
“The exhibition shares a vision of beauty and patience cultivated through a lifetime devotion to photography. Robert Benjamin, the photographer, captures the subject he found most interesting and accessible—his own life.”
From the curator Eric Paddock: “The extraordinary colors and chromatic relationships in Benjamin’s photographs, and the sheer magical presence of the people and things in his photos, remind me of the beauty any of us can find in everyday life if we aren’t too caught up in other things to stop and really look.”
I’ll be totally honest. Every once in awhile I find myself daydreaming about a trip to somewhere exotic–Thailand, Peru, India–someplace foreign and beautiful where I could bring my camera and come home with hundreds of interesting photographs. I sometimes forget that interesting photographs can be made anywhere–even Longmont, Colorado, even when the subject matter is not glitzy, foreign, fashionable nor amazingly original.
I challenged myself to start paying more attention to the simple details around me and to try and create more photographs from my life. My tool of choice? The camera on my iPhone, as I was sure it would be readily accessible at any unexpected moment.
Everyday life:
Christmas break was a long one, and towards the end of it James seemed to be getting bored. Solution: I took James and Colin to the dollar store (!) to pick out a word search book. These two iPhone photos were taken on our way back to the car, new word search book in hand.
I completely agree with your thoughts here! And great pictures!
you are so right ang! thailand and india are in my top 3 dream vacation spots :)