Wednesday, June 27, 2012

the illusion of innocence


"it is photography itself that creates the illusion of innocence.  its ironies of frozen narrative lend to its subjects an apparent unawareness that they will change or die.  it is the future they are innocent of.  fifty years on we look at them with the godly knowledge of how they turned out after all- who they married, the date of their death- with no thought for who will one day be holding photographs of us."

-from the book black dogs by ian mcewan

8 comments:

  1. Wonderful! Such strange little faces...and I love the quote! however do you find them?

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    1. thanky linda! a good site for quotes is goodreads.com. happy quoting!

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  2. Great insight Beth...you know I often look at the children in old photos and wonder if their lives were as sorrowful and empty as their faces. I love the way you use these pictures to get across the messages you impart. Your art is beautiful and very effecting.

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    1. i am mesmerized by the people in old photographs... i can spend hours scrolling through them online. i sometimes feel like i am rescuing them when i choose them for a piece. crazy, i know.... but true.

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  3. It's funny to think about the lives yet to live on the faces of children frozen in time from so long ago. What you said about 'rescuing them' made me think about how some religions believe that a persons soul is somehow captured in a photograph. With that in mind, maybe chosing them for a piece is somehow 'setting them free'

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    1. oh sandra i love your perspective on that! brilliant!

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  4. I'm loving your dark art!

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