Eye of the beholder …

RDP Monday – Photogenic

My mother would often say about other women, “Oh! she is so photogenic!” meaning, whoever she was referring to, was beautiful. I wonder how she would define beauty now in a world of pouting selfies, filters etc.

Growing up in a family where my mother was considered to be beautiful by all who met her, as was my older sister, that bar was set too high for me. I chose my own path and from a very young age, found beauty in words, lay on my back to watch clouds above, stared at a full moon in awe, watched waves lap the shore, and was curious about the behaviour of birds. When the family chattered excitedly on the annual summer trip by train to the coast, I watched the landscape. I didn’t know it then as I do now. I loved being immersed in what nature offered. The child in me, remains alive and well.

So it is not surprising if given a choice of being in nature with camera, or beauty salon … the decision making is easy for me.

Now, not all would consider this tiny Triops australiensis to be beautiful. I do. I’ve shared another picture of this creature in a different post but, I love the Betty Boop face in this one!

Triops australiensis – Found in a billabong, outback, Western Australia

We find, see and define beauty in so many subjective ways. I’m an amateur with camera and know very little about manipulating and editing pictures. And to be honest, I don’t have the time nor inclination to learn any more than I know. What I know is this … if I have a visceral response to something I see, I take a picture. What I see, is what you get. I like the authenticity of this.

So it doesn’t come as any surprise, one of my favourite quotes by F. Scott Fitzgerald hangs in my home. I regard the words a personal message to me from the child I was, to the woman I became.

“She was beautiful, but not like those girls in magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn’t beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful.” 

I often wonder, would my late mother see me through this lens?

Until next time

As always

a dawn bird