Alison | Interesting Fact

I’ve been told that my photography speaks. It’s been said that my pictures carry a story or even a poem in the eyes of my subject. A cartoonist friend of mine, who is a remarkably good artist, once told me that he wished he could draw like I can take photographs. That seemed very odd to me because I had to construct photos and he could draw whatever he saw in his mind. He explained it to me this way: "When I look at your pictures I don’t just see what you saw, I see what you thought. The image isn’t important, the feeling is, and for some reason the message comes through loud and clear." He loved to write about my pictures and illustrate my poetry, though he always insisted they were the same.

I’ve won competitions with my photography. My instructor said that I was so good because when I heard words or phrases abstract images immediately come to my mind that I had a knack for sorting through. That’s probably why I like poetry so much. The first competition I won was actually the first one I competed in. The topic was "Emotions" and I turned in a picture of a rose impaled by safety pins. The judges called it acid and cold, but also beautiful. They took the liberty of titling it "Love Hurts" and presented me with first place. After that I competed in every competition I could, not always winning but always doing well and receiving some interesting comments. My interesting insights have gotten me in trouble in some instances. Feel free to ask me why my friend James’ nickname is Jesus. That one got me disqualified, but we thought it was funny.

The image above is a photograph that won a regional competition in Cochise County. It doesnt have a title but, if it helps, the topic was "Street Life".