Sunday, September 22, 2013

Surprised

Taken in mid-September, during a downpour.


I feel censored! I feel stuck! I feel as if an important appendage has been cut off!

My camera died and replacing it is turning out to be more of a project than it has been in the past, hence I'm camera-less for a few days. May I be honest? I'm kind of freaking out.

Ha.

What I'm getting is that my brain has mapped itself to think in accordance with the process of me walking around and taking pictures. Somehow these activities have been braided together. Pulling out one of the components, in this case, the camera, has been rather tragic. It's alarming and also hilarious.

Of course I'll get a new camera. The first day I have time this week I'll figure it out either at a very nice camera shop in DC or over the internet. I've gotten great suggestions and advice from family and friends. In researching I'm realizing how important this tool is to me. Instead of buying another of the same without a lot of thought about it, as I have when my old cameras died, I'm thinking about what kind of tool would best serve me now. I'm being choosy. This is evolution and also it is unsettling.

And funny.

A few months ago I worried because I felt called to listen to really weird music, like Korean classical music and Bollywood, for instance. I thought this behavior might signal some kind of pathology. A dear one suggested I might be trying to shake loose some cobwebs in the dusty corners of my mind/heart. He was spot on. And now the shaking, the loosening of cobwebs continues.

I'm exploring the connections between photography and my mind - because I have to. I am camera-less! Yikes!! It's interesting and unnerving.

And funny!

Shalom.

An "old" picture from a few days ago.

9 comments:

ellen abbott said...

I obsessed over what kind of new camera to get but then a friend advised me that even the little point and shoot cameras are so advanced now that any one of those would probably serve me just fine so I just went to Target and picked out a new Canon powershot, much more advanced than my previous one and less than $200. I'm very happy with it.

Tom said...

sometimes I will purposefully leave the camera behind. It's nice to just observe, you know, and not have to document every little thing.

Reya Mellicker said...

I don't know how to think without taking pictures. I don't know how to see. It will be interesting to see this process unfold.

kob said...

I'm using the Sony NEX 3C. They stopped making them about a year ago, replaced by a newer model. The Sony NEX line is outstanding. You might be able to find one, used, for around $350, or less, with some luck. Check Amazon and eBay. The Cannon Powershot line is very good as well.

Kerry said...

My Canon powershot is slowly dying & I can easily imagine how you feel. For me, words usually come after images. It would be hard for me to write a story & illustrate it later; the process is reversed in my head.

Researching a new device is kind of fun, but can also be overwhelming. In the end, what Ellen said is probably right--unless you want a camera with SLR that shoots raw data. That puts your search into a different, more expensive realm.

Rebecca Clayton said...

I'm experiencing a rash of new, unexpected perspectives this month, too. Also, replacing stuff--expensive stuff, but fortunately, I can (just barely) afford it. Is it the season? The stars? Maybe we're laying by things and ideas for the coming winter. (?)

Reya Mellicker said...

Rebecca! Yes.

Reya Mellicker said...

Kerry - yes. Exactly.

Anonymous said...

Oh, it's like trying to go shopping for a new pair of eyes, isn't it? I try not to get too attached to too much technology or try to have more than one camera or main computer so I don't shut down when one of them falls apart.

I had an experience like that this morning when we had a 90 minute power outage in my neighborhood, and then I managed to accept it as a gift of quiet and calm before the house and the streets went back to their normal buzz.