a little of the unexpected.
i found these trees. i was trying to find my brother-in-law's new apartment and i got lost. but i found these trees. and after passing them twice, i made myself stop. i was late. i still didn't know where i was going. but i needed to shoot these trees.i quickly snapped maybe six pictures and then headed back to my car. can you tell? i wasn't really committed to stopping. as i was walking back, three seven or eight year old boys rode up on their bikes and asked me 'were you taking pictures of the flowers????' indeed i was, i replied, to which they excitedly asked to see them. one of them, bless his heart, said, 'that one's just like a regular picture in a magazine!'
i watched the boys decide to pick some of the blossoms and start climbing the tree. they assured me that they were expert tree climbers and thought about throwing out my tree climbing credentials, but let it go instead. inspired to actually take my time, i started shooting again. the boys and i had a delightful conversation and after helping me with a couple of shots, we began to part ways. i want a branch, i thought. i'm going to get one, too. this, i verbalized, to which one of the boys replied, no. i'm going to get it for you.he handed me the branch he already had and clambored up the tree, looking around, sizing up each branch he saw. finally, he found the perfect one. now, i had envisioned a small branch, something suitable for a small vase. just a
little something. what he came down with was a four foot section of incredible beauty. four feet of pure blossom.what i had envisioned was so much less than what he had seen. this little boy gets it. he's gonna be good when he gets some years on him.
the problem, as i see it, is that he's seven. i ask you, where are guys my age willing to climb a tree and break off a branch of flowers for me?
posted by julie @ 11:10 AM
3 Comments:
Lovely color. I can only imagine what a street full of trees like that would look like.
Unsolicited photo advice follows:
What struck you most strongly about the scene that you described in your post? Was it the flowers, or the boys?
The flower shots are very nice, and they are symbolic of your story, but the real images worth capturing in those moments you describe would have included the boys climbing the trees.
I give this advice as someone who almost never includes people in his work…and as someone who’s suffers for this.
There's a Carly Simon song, “Boys in the Trees” with lyrics apropos of your post/experience/question….
“Do you go to them or do you let them come to you
Do you stand in back afraid that you'll intrude
Deny yourself and hope someone will see
And live like a flower
While the boys grew in the trees”
Full lyrics here: http://www.mp3lyrics.org/c/carly-simon/boys-in-the-trees/
I think I need to spend more time around 7-year old boys and less time around 17-year old boys.
See the dancer (ballerina) in the branches?
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