The Story Behind the Gaze

Whenever I see a photograph what really brings it to life is putting a story behind it. It provides a reason why the person is smiling at the camera or why they are gazing pensively into the distance. I don't always put stories behind faces, if I did my time spent on Facebook would most certainly become a cause for concern. But every now and again I come across a photograph and my mind races.

I have to admit I'm a self-confessed people watcher. I could sit in a cafe and watch people hurry to and fro all day. It's almost like watching through the window at a make believe truman show. You can decide who's world evolves around shopping for tea-cosies, who's rushing to satisfy their strawberry ice-cream craving and who's truly, madly in love with the woman at the pick'n'mix stall in St. Davids. It doesn't matter how crazy the story is, for that fleeting minute when that particular person walks by you can believe anything you want to believe. It is only you who knows the truth behind who will receive the forget-me-nots from the stud in the leather jacket. That is the whole fun of creativity. Unfortunately I do not have all day to watch people dizzy back and forth in front of me, that is when I start with photographs.

One photograph really struck me the other day and that is how this blog came about. On the Times website they have certain slideshows on different countries. Normally I cling to the places I've been to in a hope to catch a glimpse of somewhere familiar to me. I have never been to Paris but I would love to go. Paris brings dainty cafe's surrounding the Eiffel Tower, the power of the french language to make my heart melt, pain au chocolats in the morning and cherry red berets. There amidst the woman who made money from making public her love affair was a couple sat at a table in a French cafe looking intently at a laptop screen.

It was all there, the dark red walls which made the cafe reminiscent of a moulin rouge boudoir minus the seediness. Outside you can imagine a woman tottering along with brown Mary Jane shoes and a classic polka dot dress like the scene in Sex and the City where Carrie took on Paris with her unique style. The man and woman in the photo look comfortably in love. Perhaps they are booking to go on a trip around Europe or looking for an apartment with french shutters and quirky retro wallpaper. Or perhaps they are reading the news together, as it is early morning and it is a tradition which takes place everyday before they say their goodbyes and head off to work. Him a freelance writer, her a photographer. Both taking in the culture of life everyday and then meeting again after work to discuss what they have seen and who they have met. Maybe they are saving to set up their own business, put their skills together and create a story about a European summer romance.

See...it is not hard to get carried away with someone elses life. Obviously I do not know who they are, I probably never will, but it sets the scene to really appreciate a photograph. To see the potential the photographer has seen. I like the tiny blue teapot and the way she is slightly leaning into him to see the screen on the laptop. It is every part of a photograph which makes it what it is.

So next time you see a photograph which catches your eye spend time looking behind the photograph and make your own story.

Until the next thought... (or when i have time!!)

Hannah xx