The One Word Project

The Shutter Sisters are a group of women who teach and encourage the practice of expressive photography: "shooting from the heart". Ali Edwards, one of thegroup's founders, believes in the impact that 'one little word' can have on our lives, as a result, the Shutter Sisters began the One Word Project (among others). At the beginning of each month, they would post a word on their website and invite their followers to submit photos illustrating the word given. In previous months, words chosen have included : play, nurture, beauty, dream, etc. This month, however, there was a new twist.  Readers were instructed to choose their own word for illustration : a meaningful word that might call forth growth in the year ahead. The link explaining their project is below:

http://shuttersisters.com/home/2011/1/1/what-will-you-focus-on.html

Viewing this as a novel approach to the somewhat futile concept of "New Year's Resolutions", I dutifully selected my word and chose an informal snapshot to begin exploring that word visually. I distributed the photo to others to let them know about the Shutter Sisters' website and their project.

The responses I received were very enlightening. The interpretations ascribed to my photo ranged from "stomp" to "horseback riding"!   (None of the suggestions were accurate, but there will be other clues throughout the year.)

I was later reminded of the opening pages from The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery. As a child, the French author had tried to illustrate a boa constrictor devouring an elephant. He showed his picture to various adults and asked them if they were frightened by his drawing; they always gave the same disappointing response, "Why would anyone be frightened of a hat?!!"

So too, the photographer accentuates certain details, at the expense of others, in a given photo. The details highlighted may have been chosen deliberately or may simply reflect the photographer's  lack of compositional skill.  Yet even when presented with the most masterful of photographs, viewers are free to make their own associations and projections; ultimately, they have the last word!