Best Viewed Small

This is an imperfect picture.

It’s a photo on which I’ve spent too much time editing. It had too many colors, textures and visual distractions. It isn’t even my photo. I borrowed it from a friend but edited it so much as to make it unrecognizable from the original.

But there’s something about this picture that I like.

I like the perspective, the line and flow of the girls walking out of the woods and into the light.

I like the energy of the two in the middle, caught mid-flight and about to run.

I like the space between the them and the older girl. Her posture suggests someone older. Older but not yet old enough to not have her hair plaited into a long straight braid.

I like the partial view of the adult in front of her.  She’s hidden and barely visible.  She’s leading the troupe but she’s overshadowed by a girl about to become a woman.

This is a picture which is better than the details.  It is best viewed small, on a glance or to the side,  where the imperfections don’t matter and only an impression remains.

Collingwood, Ontario.  2019