Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective
“Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.” Robert Morgan
Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective – Kwoma Ceiling, New Guinea
Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective – The Cloisters Garden, New York
After spending the month of February contemplating the word – Perspective – for NaBloPoMo, I was nicely surprised to see it as the chosen word for this week’s photo challenge. One thing I know for sure is that 10 people can look at a painting or photograph and come away with different opinions about what they saw. I’ve always found this important point fascinating. Think about it. Even with the Weekly Photo Challenge, participants submit blog posts with a wide range of interpretations on each given theme.
Why does this happen? Does it have something to do with the breath of our life experiences? The wiring of our brains? our vision? How can we look at the same thing or hear the same music and react/respond differently to it? It’s called Perspective and it is something we can create in photography. I’ve tried to create varying perspectives in the photos shared. Let me know what you think of them? How would you frame them differently?
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” Marcus Aurelius
Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective – Empire State Building, New York
Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective – New Yorker Hotel, New York
Perspective: a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface. Compare aerial perspective, linear perspective.
A picture employing this technique, especially one in which it is prominent: an architect’s perspective of a house.
A visible scene, especially one extending to a distance; vista: a perspective on the main axis of an estate.
The state of existing in space before the eye: The elevations look all right, but the building’s composition is a failure in perspective.
The state of one’s ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship: You have to live here a few years to see local conditions in perspective.
The faculty of seeing all the relevant data in a meaningful relationship: Your data is admirably detailed but it lacks perspective.
A mental view or prospect: the dismal perspective of terminally ill patients.
To make more sense of the word, I reached for a dictionary definition and the interpretations were excellent. If you read the examples from Dictionary Reference above, you’d find enough explanations to help create photo groups that showcase the term Perspective well. The quote by Marcus Aurelius gives us another way to think about the word too. I suppose this is why eye witness testimony is often challenged in a Court of Law.
Eye-Witnesses are asked certain questions again and again until they stumble: What did you really see? Are you sure it wasn’t invented? Rehashed memory? We can say that the same reaction applies to photo-shopped pictures. Can we look at a Photoshopped picture and recognize that what we see might not be the whole story? In the photos I shared above and below, I used the same premise to create varying perspectives. What did you see that you might not have considered?
More Below
“When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It’s all a matter of perspective.” Harvey Mackay
Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective – Bird in the Snow, New York
Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective – Birds on the Feeder, New York
I have two feeders that attract a lot of birds. Over time, I’ve taken tons of photos of them both hanging out in the yard and feeding off the feeder…. Again, I shot these from different perspectives and did some cropping too. What is your perspective about life? What are you drawn to in photography? Do you know why? What comes to mind when you think this subject – Perspective? Do let me know in a comment below.Thank you EVERYONE!
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective. This is a great chance to put Cheri’s great cropping tips into practice or WordPress’ crop tool. In a post created specifically for this challenge, share a photo that shows us perspective.
For more, check out how others interpreted the theme – WP Daily Post: Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective What’s your perspective?
Positive Motivation Tip: Even though each of us has a different point of view about a wide range of subjects, we can find common ground if we make the effort and choose to understand each others perspective… it takes effort and is a choice. What’s your perspective?
More Weekly Photo Challenge Posts
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos from my Personal Collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Trackbacks
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- Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective | NOE Style
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Perspective | Joe's Musings
oh wow what’s the first one? looks like a sail and at the same time, A vessel 🙂 so many beautiful captures!
Thank you for asking: It’s a ceremonial ceiling decorated with individual small pieces of paintings by the Kwoma people of New Guinea. There was a great exhibit at The Met Museum last year and I took many photos there.
It’s beautiful, I’ve always been a fan of art like these 🙂
Thank you and same here! 🙂
Great shots. I really need to take a class or two to learn more about photography (not just perspective).
Take a class Scott. You’ll enjoy it. Our Weekly Photo Challenge gives us a variety of subjects to explore. This week it’s Perspective.
I love this theme and you got some amazing shots. I miss seeing the Empire State building. Brings back such great memories.
TY! Well come visit NY sometime. 🙂
Your photographs are gorgeous! It’s so true, perspective makes such a difference in everything!
I’m with Harvey Mackay. I enjoy taking photos of something/place/person with a variety of perspectives.
Yes, so do I. I enjoyed this challenge very much.
When I take certain photos I literally move a step at a time in both directions. I also angle the camera differently. These change the view and perspective. My husband laughs at me, mostly because if I’m doing that it means he’s waiting to eat.
I wish I was a better photographer. I have thought about taking a class, but honestly, I don’t have time for that. I think I like to take pictures of just about anything that I find colorful, unique and interesting..
I’m really drawn to up-close macro shots with lots of colors and contrast in photography. I just love seeing things in a different way than I normally would. It offers a whole different perspective!
I love these photos. It does give eac a new perspective.
Your varied collections were interesting to look at. I really like the one of the cloister gardens.
TY Colline I love that one too… plus it was a fun visit with a friend.
What cool photos! I love how you changed up the perspectives on photos. My daughter has a really good eye and I think she would love taking a look at these photos.
Please do… Haven’t I seen her work on your blog? She’s a superb photographer.
Fabulous photos of perspectives – and every one of us sees them in a different perspective….fascinating!
Wow what some beautiful pictures they are, and what a difference perspective really makes. I need to work more on taking pictures I think 🙂 x
Your selection for the challenge is really great. I especially love the shot of the Empire State Building.
Perspective = point of view. It is an interesting word, made more so with its application in photography as you have written. Indeed how often people looked at thing yet have different takes about it? When confronted with a situation, there are times when we are told (or we tell ourselves) to change our perspective.
I too believe that perspective is how you CHOOSE to see/do things. I love the Harvey Mackay’s quote!
These are such great pictures! I love the quote about choosing to be an optimist. Having the right perspective really makes a huge difference in our lives.
Love the Aurelius quotation, E. Yes, perspective can heal a lot of suffering. So can your photographs. I love the Kwoma ceiling. {{{Hugs}}} Kozo
AYE Captain so true! Healing = Perspective. TY for your wisdom. 🙂
What gorgeous pictures Elizabeth! Did you take those pictures yourself? I loved the one with the pigeon, but I’ve always had a warm spot for pigeons. <3
Yes I did. TY Ronnie! For the Photo Challenges, they want us to use our own photos. 🙂
I forgot to tell you this the other day, but I adore the pictures of the Empire State Building. It’s always lit up for one thing or another whenever I am down in NYC and I love seeing it.
Me too… I never used to pay attention until I moved to California and then realized how much I missed NY… Now I carry a camera everywhere and snap things I love. 😉
Your photos are beautiful! I especially love the Cloisters Garden, I’d love to see it in person. I’ll be in NYC in May and I’m trying to figure out some things to do. I’m going for a tradeshow and u want to explore places, not shop.
Great! If you have time, let me know when you’re in town and we can check out a museum or two.
Great photos! And I think you nailed the challenge on perspective.
Thank you Mandy! Sometimes the challenges are tough because I don’t hvae photos that fit. This was a fun one to do.
That is so very true. Photos are all about perception. What one people sees in a photo, the next may not.
Oh your NYC photos bring me back in those years we visited NYC. It was a fascinating experience. 🙂
Awww your NYC photos are amazing! It takes me back to those days we went there a year ago. I wish we can visit NYC again.
I am really bad at perspective, I try, but I am not good. Your pictures of the Empire State building is gorgeous. I used to work there and was lucky to see them lit up.
I need to work on perspective with my photography. I’m loving all these pictures!
Perspective is something I love about both photography and writing. There are always two coins to every story, and a better perspective around the corner!