Light Peeking Under Shade
Photographers usually want some details in the shadow areas of their images to add interest, and in post production — the darkroom, Photoshop — they can isolate them and coax them out.
100 words - RetroFlash
For half my adult life, for reasons I only partially understand, I was drawn to the darkness. Well, not the darkness of cruelty, but to those shadows, the lure of what lay beneath. And maybe, like my eyes, I adjusted to the dark over time.
Now I find more interest in the light, the warm glow of partnership, companionship, love without resistance or struggle, clean living. Except for dark chocolate.
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100 words – RetroFlash
Barbara BucklesArtist, writer, storyteller, spy. Okay, not a spy…I was just going for the rhythm.
I call myself “an inveterate dabbler.” (And my husband calls me “an invertebrate babbler.”) I just love to create one way or another. My latest passion is telling true stories live, on stage. Because it scares the hell out of me.
As a memoirist, I focus on the undercurrents. Drawing from memory, diaries, notes, letters and photographs, I never ever lie, but I do claim creative license when fleshing out actual events in order to enhance the literary quality, i.e., what I might have been wearing, what might have been on the table, what season it might have been. By virtue of its genre, memoir also adds a patina of introspection and insight that most probably did not exist in real time.
Characterizations:
funny, moving, well written
I love how you contrast the dark and the light, from an artist’s perspective, Barb. Except for dark chocolate, of course.
Thanks, Betsy!
Bebe, both moving and funny and in just 100 words!
May the only darkness in your life be that bar of bittersweet Ghiradelli!
Cheers, Dana!
Beautiful piece, Barb. I anvy your truly poetic use of the RetroFlash medium. Great contrasting of dark and light. And killer funny last line.
Thanks so much, John! I like to think of RetroFlash as poetic, and impressionistic. Kind of like haiku.
Lovely. Beautiful photo, too, and a perfect illustration of chiaroscuro.
Thanks, John…I appreciate your appreciation!
Lovely sentiments, Barb, reinforced by the image. I can almost taste the dark chocolate.
Thanks, Mare!
This is wonderful, Barb! Your stunning photo perfectly illustrates your story of darkness and light. My favorite line is “maybe, like my eyes, I adjusted to the dark over time.” But I love the rest of it too. And now I want some dark chocolate.
Thanks so much, Suzy…and that’s my favorite line, too.
I love your photo, Barb. My granddaughter, who expresses herself through photography, is drawn to the shadows in her pictures. Now for some dark chocolate.
Thanks, Laurie…I remember that about your granddaughter’s photos, and find it so interesting for someone so young.
I like the image of photographers being able to ‘coax’ out details. So many nice phrases… ‘Drawn to the darkness…to the shadows…to the lure of what lay beneath …. love without resistance.’ I enjoyed this, Barbara. And not to be left out, the dark chocolate! Maybe that should be a prompt;-)
Thanks so much, Penny!
Beautiful photograph to begin with! And you’ve coaxed out some dark chocolate hues out of the darkness. I have a painter friend who writes — at my request — about his process. I always find descriptions of other mediums fascinating. Thanks for the brief tour through your awareness!
Thanks, Charles…I enjoy learning about other artists’ processes as well!