Theme thoughts...not by Jack Handy

Shay Stephens

Joy or sorrow. Simple words, but they can be intimidating to try and capture. Here is a problem. What works better, to try and capture something that looks happy or to try and get the viewer to feel happy? Which would have more impact?

Another thought, people (viewers) have empathy. That empathy makes one feel what the other "person" appears to be feeling. By person, I mean something that the viewer can empathize with.

So when trying to come up with a photo idea, try to go beyond the idea of capturing just a smile or frown. Try to go deeper to the point where the viewer will smile or frown.

A cat with a long face is not going to have the same impact on the viewer as a cat with a long face enduring a bath! The second example is a scene that puts context to the long face and something the viewer can more readily empathize with. The long cat face by itself will not likely move the viewer unless it *really* looked pitiful.

What are your thoughts about capturing this theme?

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For those disappointed that there are no Jack Handy quotes, I leave you with these theme-compatible quotes:

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.

You know what would make a good story? Something about a clown who make people happy, but inside he's real sad. Also, he has severe diarrhea.

http://www.cco.net/~jpete/deepthou.htm

pyroPrints.com

I see your Jack Handy and raise you Mitch Hedberg

I had a stick of Carefree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor, I was back to pondering my mortality.

I went to the park and saw this kid flying a kite. The kid was really excited. I don't know why, that's what they're supposed to do. Now if he had had a chair on the other end of that string, I would have been impressed.

I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that's extra scary to me, because there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. Run. He's fuzzy. Get outta here.

Robert

Shay Stephens wrote:

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said. "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down, he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.

I hope you have no kids yourself for their sake!

saurora

pyroPrints.com wrote:

I had a stick of Carefree gum, but it didn't work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor, I was back to pondering my mortality.

That is such a great quote...I love it!!!

Flyinggina

Provocative question you pose, Shay!

Probably the best photograph I ever took was a black and white of my daughter when she was 4 or 5 (well over 30 years ago) and was coming to me for comfort after a fight with the little girl next door. Her face was dirty and the tears left streaks down her cheeks. I happened to have our camera on hand and was compelled to capture the moment. She was furious that I was pointing a camera at her. The scowl on her face said it all. I took the picture and she has truly never forgiven me for it. But it is a wonderful photograph that I love. How warped is that?

I think about this often when I am taking pictures of her daughter who just turned three. Emily, who has cameras pointed at her since she was minutes old, has developed a limited tolerance for being photographed and I am trying to respect that. This means giving up some wonderful photographic opportunities, which is really hard to do. But I think it is right to respect her wishes and I'm hoping that she will develop into a cooperative model one of these days.

So how is someone like me going to find joyful or sorrowful opportunities? Do I befriend a homeless person, talk to him or her, get permission to take photographs, be sure the background is not distracting and hope that I capture something that says joyful or sorrowful to the viewer (instead of tired or disgruntled)? Do I use my family? Pose them? Capture them in real moments of emotion magically posed in front of a non-distracting or complementary background? "Steal" a photo of my granddaughter or some other child (with appropriate context but a non-distracting background, of course)? Go to a funeral and take pictures of people in the church or at the cemetery? Take a quick trip into a war zone? Take a picture of myself feeling sorrowful about not being able to capture a photograph for LPS#7? Throw one or both of my beloved burmese cats into a shallow bubble bath then take pictures while they try to get out of the tub? (Hummm. That might make a great collage, Just joking. Please don't report me to the ASPCA).

It is going to be very interesting to see the entries trying to capture joyful or sorrow. I doubt if mine will be one of them but I that doesn't mean I won't be thinking about the challenge and trying to come up with a viable entry. I guess that is the point.

Good luck to everyone. This one is really tough and as someone else said, the best entries are going to be drop dead amazing.

Virginia

richtersl

Flyinggina wrote:

It is going to be very interesting to see the entries trying to capture joyful or sorrow. I doubt if mine will be one of them but I that doesn't mean I won't be thinking about the challenge and trying to come up with a viable entry. I guess that is the point.

Good luck to everyone. This one is really tough and as someone else said, the best entries are going to be drop dead amazing.

Going and photographing someone in a joyful or sorrowful moment could wind up being rather intrusive -- unless you have a really good zoom lens.

Trying to capture someone who looks and is happy or sad could be tough, indeed. But as Shay implied, we could try to capture some "thing" that will make the viewer happy or sad. From that end, it doesn't have to be a person conveying an emotion for a photo.

I'm going to be optimistic and have my camera on hand and just hope for the best.

Tessa HD

good thoughts and funny quotes! that'll help me, I hope!

Tessa

wxwax

Joy and happy are not the same thing, which adds hurdle. Ditto with sorrow and sad.

I wouldn't accept a shot of a baby crying or an adult laughing at a joke.

Joy and sorrow are profound emotions. A challenge with those themes might invite people to go poking their cameras in people's faces at unfortunate times.

I do like the idea of images which evoke joy and sorrow in the viewer. That's taking the concept to a different place. Problem is, not everyone responds the same way, so it's a bit dicey. But better than haunting a funeral to get a shot of someone crying.

Shay Stephens

wxwax wrote:

Joy and happy are not the same thing, which adds hurdle. Ditto with sorrow and sad.

I wouldn't accept a shot of a baby crying or an adult laughing at a joke.

Joy and sorrow are profound emotions. A challenge with those themes might invite people to go poking their cameras in people's faces at unfortunate times.

I do like the idea of images which evoke joy and sorrow in the viewer. That's taking the concept to a different place. Problem is, not everyone responds the same way, so it's a bit dicey. But better than haunting a funeral to get a shot of someone crying.

And just remember, it's Joy *or* Sorrow. It doesn't have to be both.

wxwax

Shay Stephens wrote:

And just remember, it's Joy *or* Sorrow. It doesn't have to be both.

http://www.djdchronology.com/images3/giftpin2.jpg

Robert

wxwax wrote:

Joy and happy are not the same thing, which adds hurdle. Ditto with sorrow and sad.

I wouldn't accept a shot of a baby crying or an adult laughing at a joke.

Joy and sorrow are profound emotions. A challenge with those themes might invite people to go poking their cameras in people's faces at unfortunate times.

I do like the idea of images which evoke joy and sorrow in the viewer. That's taking the concept to a different place. Problem is, not everyone responds the same way, so it's a bit dicey. But better than haunting a funeral to get a shot of someone crying.

Don’t know why our mind works this way. Why is the first thought that comes to mind to catch a shot of somebody’s suffering and add insult to pain in the process by sticking the camera into their faces or even just the publication of their sorrow. Why isn’t our first thought to stick the camera into somebody’s face that is having a great time.
Guess there is more misery than happiness in this world and we are more familiar with the first theme. And how often are we shown joyful news flashes on TV. Happiness ain’t considered a seller with people.

And now I’m going to look up the definitions of joy & sorrow compared to happy & sad.

Robert

Robert wrote:

And now I’m going to look up the definitions of joy & sorrow compared to happy & sad.

Definitions found on the Net:

Joy is an emotion of great happiness.
Happiness is an emotional state that feels good or pleasing.

Sorrow is an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
Sorrow is an instance or cause of unhappiness

My own interpretation:

Sadness is shorter lived and shallower than sorrow
Sorrow goes deeper and takes longer time to overcome

Joy does not equal happiness. You can enjoy happiness but you can also enjoy something without being happy. You can find joy in a lot of things and actions without finding happiness.

It suddenly seems like joy equals an open theme. Any picture that brings some joy to the viewer will qualify.

Tessa HD

wxwax wrote:

I do like the idea of images which evoke joy and sorrow in the viewer. That's taking the concept to a different place. Problem is, not everyone responds the same way, so it's a bit dicey.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm gonna need more than 2 weeks to find an object that is sure to evoke emotion to the viewer. Yikes, I can't believe a week has already gone by and I've got NOTHIN.

davev

Tessa HD wrote:

I'm gonna need more than 2 weeks to find an object that is sure to evoke emotion to the viewer.

A photo of Hillary Clinton or George Bush will do it.
But in both cases the emotion probably wouldn't be joy or sorrow.

richtersl

davev wrote:

A photo of Hillary Clinton or George Bush will do it.
But in both cases the emotion probably wouldn't be joy or sorrow.

:lol4