The Image Journey Posts

Published March 8, 2017 by

When your faucet resembles a face

pareidolia, perception, reflection, face,
Window Reflection, 2013                                   © Avard Woolaver

Have you ever looked at the front of a house and seen a face smiling at you? Or looked at some tree bark to see a profile of Elvis Presley? Grab your camera, and take a photo. There may be thousands of others who want to see it, or even buy it.

Pareidolia is the phenomenon of the mind seeing a familiar pattern of something that doesn’t really exist. The most common examples are animal shapes in clouds, the man in the moon, and faces found on various surfaces, including toast.

It is not new—Leonardo Da Vinci wrote of pareidolia as an artistic device, “Look at walls splashed with a number of stains, or stones of various mixed colours. If you have to invent some scene, you can see resemblances to a number of landscapes… Also, you can see various battles, and lively postures of strange figures, expressions on faces, costumes and an infinite number of things, which you can reduce to good integrated form.”

So, the next time your toast pops up, or you find yourself in front of a stone wall, have a good, long look; who knows what your imagination may discover.

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Photo tip:  Look for reflections in windows. People and objects in the reflection can mingle with what is in the scene to create interesting, imagined narratives.

“Window Reflection, 2013” is from the series: Wish You Were Here

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Avard Woolaver face Nova Scotia pareidolia perception photography reflection The Image Journey

Published March 7, 2017 by

Surrealism and humour in everyday life

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Marching Band, Toronto; 1983                                 © Avard Woolaver

Martin Parr‘s photographs are known for their whimsical, sardonic wit. In a recent blog post I mentioned the painter René Magritte, who consistently challenged perceptions of reality by showing ordinary objects out of their usual contexts (by, for example, putting a silk mask on an apple, or having a train emerge from a fireplace).

Parr also finds humour in everyday objects and situations. In article in The Telegraph, he noted, “Part of what I’ve done is to make the everyday look more interesting.” The photos British photographer Martin Parr takes are known for gently satirizing people and their cultures. The viewers can be left with ambiguous reactions—not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Creating humour in photos is a difficult task: if it’s too subtle, no one gets the joke; if it’s too overt, it isn’t very funny.

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Photo tip: the key to many good photographs is patience—observing the scene and waiting for something interesting to happen. Often it’s something behind the scenes that produces the witty photo.

Marching Band, Toronto; 1983 is from the series: Toronto Days

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Published March 6, 2017 by

Press the shutter, evaluate later

marching band, Toronto, shutter, 1983,
Marching Band, Toronto; 1983                                   © Avard Woolaver

National Geographic photographer Sam Abell once said, “My best work is often almost unconscious and occurs ahead of my ability to understand it.” It’s common to feel this way when editing and evaluating photos. Sometimes I don’t edit a group of photos until months or years after I’ve taken them, and I may catch nuances or connections then that escaped me when I took them.

That is why it is important not to worry so much about getting the perfect picture—just concentrate on capturing moments and experiences. You’ll have plenty of time later to reflect on it.

And, paradoxically, so much of photography is what happens after the moment. A photo takes one one-hundredth of a second, but we have lots of time afterwards to study and make sense of the image. Some photographers used to keep unprocessed film for months or years so that they could view it later with fresh eyes and a new perspective.

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Photo tip:  Go over past work from time to time. There may be some worthwhile images that you passed over at the time. Time and experience can give new perspectives.

“Marching Band, Toronto; 1983” was discovered recently on a contact sheet some thirty four years after it was taken. It is from the series: Toronto Days

Colour Documentary Film Photography Photography Social Landscape

1983 analog Avard Woolaver film marching band social landscape Toronto Toronto Days

Published March 4, 2017 by

Photography can be our therapy

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Photo Therapy, NS, 2015                                     © Avard Woolaver

You have probably had the experience of taking a casual walk with your camera and feeling your mood improve as you see and capture some interesting scenes. Or had a wonderful experience looking at an old family photo album. Art therapy has been used forever, and photography is just one of its applications.

When I was eighteen I came down with mono and had to drop out of my first year of university. It was a low point in my life. Walking outside with my camera made me feel better—it healed both my mind and body. Some forty years later, I’m still taking walks with my camera and still feeling the positive vibes.

Hungarian photographer Marton Perlaki, whose photos often have a surreal and quirky aspect that I admire, told British Journal of Photography interviewer Tom Seymour, “I think my pictures have a certain childish, absurd humour which plays an important role in my work. I think about photography as a sort of therapy for the mind. I am trying to understand something about myself through the process and the final work.”

Psychotherapist Joshua Miles observed, in a Counselling Directory article, “There is a meaningful and real connection between the creative and therapeutic processes.”                                                                                      —

Photo tip: Look for words on signs that can be used to used to make interesting juxtapositions–for example, a stop sign or a yield sign.

Colour Observation Photography Social Landscape

2015 art therapy Avard Woolaver Canon Rebel T3 colour Nova Scotia photography Windsor

Published March 2, 2017 by

Have your camera ready as the photo moment passes quickly

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Keele Street, Toronto; 1984                                                 © Avard Woolaver

You may have had the unfortunate experience of coming upon an interesting scene only to discover that your camera is not in your bag. Or you realize that your cell phone is back at home. Or there is no film in your camera. There are any number of scenarios, but the conclusion is that you missed the moment: you missed the shot. This has happened to me numerous times and I always vow to never let it happen again.

Capturing the moment has been one of the key aspects of photography from the very beginning. Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson coined the term “the decisive moment” in 1952. He said, “To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.” There has been much debate as to whether one moment is more decisive than another, nonetheless, if there is a moment we are after it is important to be prepared for it.

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Photo tip: Be as ready as you can–batteries charged, space on the memory card, film in the camera, etc. When you are anticipating a good moment try to position yourself so that what is in background will be unobtrusive. And be patient–it can happen when you least expect it.

Keele Street, Toronto; 1984 is from the series Toronto Days and appears in Photo Vogue.

Black and White Documentary Film Photography Photography Social Landscape

1984 Avard Woolaver black and white street photography Toronto Toronto Days