Distortion of Reality...

This past weekend I bought a Fisheye Camera by the company Lomography. It is a 35 mm standard film camera, and in some ways, it is "old school" compared to todays technology. I found myself becoming impatient to see the pictures I took because it obviously doesn't have a digital screen. The fascinating thing about this camera however, is that it captures pictures in a slightly different way than a normal camera does. A regular camera captures a picture on a 180 degree surface, while a Fisheye camera, or a camera with a Fisheye Lens captures a picture on a 170 degree surface, thus creating a slightly distored picture. The finished picture, like the one my friend took above, gives the illusion of looking through a "peephole" in a door or through what we believe a fishes perspective would be.

But my question is, why do we need a type of camera like this? Who thought this up? Do we really need a way to distort reality? Of course we do. In part, that's what art is. Art never can capture something exactly as it is, because nothing can ever be in just one state. Of course if two people took a picture of the same exact tree, in the same exact spot, it would still be a tree in both photos. But one photographer could angle their camera slightly to the left to capture how the tree has weathered many storms throughout the years, and another photographer could focus on the way the light captures the dew on the bark. No two people will ever see something the same exact way. Is this distortion or just perspective?

But getting back to the fisheye lens, I wonder if the need to change reality is simply a preoccupation of the Western world, or if it is human nature. Personally, I believe that it is mixture of both and that the Western world has become the first to really vocalize it. If people didn't want to occaisonally change their reality, literature would be lost on the world, as well as film, theatre, music, and art in general because all of these things can transport us to other peoples thoughts.

So as you go through your day tomorrow, just think "How does the woman across the room see the world today?" or "I wonder what the world looks like through that cat's eyes...."

I think ALOT can be learned from seeing through other peoples eyes.



Picture Source: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=22665098&albumID=362306&imageID=60312203#a=362306&i=60312207

Love? It's really that easy?

What does this picture say to you? To me, it says everything. I personally believe that everything in this world revolves around love, or even the lack there of. Me, being a follower of Christ, believes that there are two main commandments in life: " 'Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind.' For this is the first and greatest commandment. The second being, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:37-40)" Whether you're a spiritual person or not, I believe that there is a lot that can be learned from the second statement. If everyone loved their neighbor as themselves, then war would not exist. Nor would racism, sexism, hate crimes, rape, murder, or many of the other atrocities that occur on a daily basis in our society. Think about it. If you talk to someone, even a stranger on the street, for any amount of time you will probably find similiarities between the two of you. You could be of different genders, nationalities, sexualities, ect. but you are both still human and still feel the same hurts, bleed the same blood. If we see ourselves in others and do not harm them, this world would be a better place. I deeply think that that was what this unknown artist(s) was trying to convey.

That brings me to another point. Do you believe that this was one artist, or that it was a collaborative effort between two aquaintences or maybe even two strangers? On the website that I found this picture on, it doesn't mention the artist's name(s). It doesn't say anything about the piece at all actually. But from the signature on the large part of the graffiti, one would suppose that there was simply one artist. But what if someone thought that it was unfinished? That it needed to say more? Or maybe even less? Unless we were to find the "original artist", we more than likely would never know, but just the thought of it gives me shivers.

This simple piece of art that is on the side of a building somewhere in this world, has made it to my inbox and has blown my mind. Made me think about humanity. How I treat those around me. What I see on channel 9 news each night...

"Love thy brother as thy self." Such an easy concept, but such a hard application.

Picture source: http://www.urbanministry.org/lovegraffiti4-lovethybrother