Reflections #3 Hot Seat

Hot Seat

I was walking the dirt road leading up to a former dairy farm that had been in the same family for multiple generations. An aging red dump truck roared up the incline, the driver warning me to stay out of the way lest I get run over…and no, I could not walk out to the fields. Not being able to wander about aimlessly, the area I was permitted to explore was a series of leaning wooden outbuildings in the rich sunlight of late afternoon. With somewhat dashed expectations, I patiently waited for inspiration to come to me.

Next to one of the sheds was an old green tractor, rusting away. The weeds growing around it suggested it had been parked there, waiting, for some time. I was moved by the quality of light bathing the seat, its layers exposed. Brilliant low angle warm sunlight holds many metaphors; light is hope, light is resilience, enlightenment, and truth. Light radiates beauty elevating the object it exposes.

This illumination when juxtaposed with shadows, which convey mystery, ambiguity, and fear, creates a new metaphor:  light emerging from darkness.

My images are often motivated by capturing that which is changing. The seat which has seen much use, had purpose, but now is in the waning twilight of its usefulness. This disintegration shows vulnerability, but because of its slightly elevated positioning, the seat retains dignity and strength. The object (tractor seat) works with the subject, warm nostalgic light, referring to simpler, maybe happier times. The more time I spend looking at this image, the more the lighted seat takes on an anima, a presence.

Recently, I sense a shift in my vision. Where previously, I have been more concerned about the thing in the image as shaving the most meaning, I now let light guide me to emotional quality as subject. The evocative qualities of light allow me to feel and share beauty in unexpected forms; to elevate the mundane to extraordinary. Who knew that by being confined to a small area of exploration, such treasures could be found!

Nikon Z7II

1/60

F 5.6

IOS 400

70 mm