The First Language Photo

Photographer’s Note

Gestures, making up our first language and perhaps the ultimate one of our unconscious, may attract or outright repulse us even without necessarily expressing feelings of like or dislike. There are those that make me feel at home and those, purportedly expressing the same sentiment, that alienate me.

Yesterday afternoon when I ran down to the lake after the sun had broken through the thick clouds unexpectedly, I saw this charming family with the mother gesturing lovingly to her little daughter--a gesture that almost threw me back to my own childhood like a spontaneous regression therapy acting like Proust's madeleine. It was wonderful to see both parents so in love with her, caressing her, singing and pointing out the birds over the water. The mother, at one point, stretched her arm as though they were wings of a dove, gesturing animatedly with her long fingers in front of the girl who clearly was amused and started to do the same, much to the joy of everyone--including me. (I was only sorry, having hardly any time to click the shutter, that I couldn't take a shot of the child's full face...)

KevRyan, bombilla, PeterC, sarju, eleparc, brevbrev14, isabela_sor, luisafonso, robiuk has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

KevRyan (22418) 2007-04-30 19:51

I think you just about pull this one off Sasa - there is certainly enough revealed to get the full story and perhaps it's better we don't get too much pulled into the cute smiling face - I saw it all in the photo before I read your note.......

best wishes Kev

captainsgirl (3448) 2007-04-30 21:31

Hello Sarolta,
Oh I love the black and white in this photo, lovely shot of a family. I love it. TFS
Donna:o)

bombilla (3402) 2007-04-30 22:09

Teaching her daughter to fly. How long will it take her to learn she can't? Then she will have only words to lift her. Although we like to flip our airy syllables about with Promethean élan, there comes that day when we are plummeting earthword and we realize so clearly, as clear as printed letters on a page, that words are no substitute for wings. And then we sink or swim, clear the water from our lungs, dry our lips, make do with this imperfect, cursed implement lashed to our slippery tongues. Enjoy being a bird while you can, little one, and don't hold it against your parents when you learn the truth. Nice one, Sasa. A feather in your cap. -Hugh

PeterC (2242) 2007-04-30 22:31

Sasa,
A great .I agree with Kev, I'm not sure you need the smiling girl as everything is there in the shot. The bird the lady and her outstretched arms and the loving Father looking on.

Cheers
Peter

eleparc (24059) 2007-05-01 6:20

Hello my dear friend,
what a great capture including a mogul and this family accompanying the first steps of their child...a very humane photo;-)
glad to be back, i'll have to check your new shots;
Eric

jonathan_hart (22623) 2007-05-01 6:20

there's not child's full face but we can see enough to understand the athmosphere, great moment captured, wonderful B&W composition with this lovely family and nice BG with a flying bird, very spontaneous shot
regards
jo

vts_ch (2624) 2007-05-01 6:22

Hi sasa,
I like the way the woman's arms are imitating the bird's wings, with the kid enjoying it.

Great piece of art, again.

Vince

hackman (151) 2007-05-01 6:23

every child is a blank paper and his parents draw on him, teach him to see this world, what´s red colour, what´s love, hate, what´s good, wrong ... the child is a mirror his parents ... maybe this shot is very good idea for photostory :) mike

vapours (7913) 2007-05-01 7:35

This one just doesn't feel right to me sorry Sarolta. I find the positioning of the people a bit akward to look at, as if all the action is happening in front of the woman and her arms..which isnt visible to us. 20 degrees to the left and I think you would have nailed it.

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-05-01 10:00

dear Sasa, i like a lot the emotions in this image...
The natural expressions here are amazing..
Ciao!
Valeria

sorry..i am in late!!!!
:))))))))))))))

jinju (14265) 2007-05-02 3:21

What a coincidence,

the book in my bag, for the long subay ride today is Elliot Erwitt's "Handbook". This fits right in there. Infact, if you come to my PBase or flickr or my portfolion at jinju.carbonmade.com Ive been focusing on hands and their gestures over the last year. Love the moment and the expressiveness of this shot Sasa.

manub (920) 2007-05-02 6:30

Yes, just a bit sad that we can't see the baby's face, because he /she seems to have a quite funny expression...
anyway, very nice and spontaneous scene. i love the seagul on the right, like an ironical wink to the mother's gesture.
emmanuel

MKING (3050) 2007-05-02 8:31

Hi Sasa,

The beauty of the tender family moment is not detracted by the obscured child's face-- that the outstretched arms of the mother gracefully mirror that of the bird over the water with its open wings is brilliant.

I'm finally back home-- got back about 2 weeks ago. Slowly getting back into it but my "jet lag" and "culture shock" excuses for getting out of things are starting to wear thin...

jmcl (14135) 2007-05-02 9:58

Hi Sarolta,

You have captured the joy of discovery .. of wonder .. I love the bird .. it is especially evocative to me ... even without her mouth .. her eyes and cheeks communicate it all.

This image really strikes me hard .. beautiful & very meaningful.

take care,

John

isabela_sor (42435) 2007-05-02 10:03

A full story in a simple pic,so much love in it..No matter if you didn't click the face of the kid,here important is the body language!!!Everything is perfect here!!
All the best

luisafonso (858) 2007-05-02 11:46

I like the way the hands of the woman mimic the open-wing flight of the seagull. It's a simple element but it really is my favorite connection in this image. It's a pity that the face of the kid is a bit blocked by her mother's but I also understand you had to be quick in order to record this moment. The compo is good but I think you were too close on this one... the mother occupies a large section of the frame and since she has her back thrown at us I don't like it that much. It's a fine moment anyway.

bantonbuju (48796) 2007-05-02 13:27

dear sasa, cant help it that i am in love with your natural way of seeing things, so lovely, so "female", so delicate...
life in your hands looks so optimistic...
love this one,
greetings from riga,
j.

ninaL (19578) 2007-05-02 17:28

Hi, Sarolta.

I like it very much.
Simple photograph about life and about learnig about life but son wonderful.
Mother, baby and bird make the same gestures with their hands, and that is beautiful and full of meanings.

Best regards.
Grazyna.

faubry (32415) 2007-05-03 17:36

hello Sasa, very lovely image and a lot love here, joy and happy.. well done
francine

sothy81 (8540) 2007-05-04 12:12

Hi Sasa,

This is such an interesting shot. I love the action of the mom showing the to the child. Plus the presence of the seagul make this picture look like it is in a park. Well dharpness.

Sothy

Furachan (0) 2007-05-05 3:30

Another element in this gobsmackingly well timed shot (look at that bird!), Sasa, is the humor, of a similar kind to Erwitt's actually - the same analytical rigor as it were, framing precision, it's all there. A remarkably vibrant construct...
Best wishes from a quiet Tokyo (in comparison to Saigon!)
Francis
ps out of jade pellets for a short whie...)

pady (4800) 2007-05-05 12:09

Nice moment cpatured here. Even the bird seems contribute to the scene by its mimic.
Full of tenderness.
Cheeers
Pierre-André

AmiBe (6042) 2007-05-05 18:05

Hi Sasa,
what a nice moment for a family !
That reminds my childhood, when we went near the lake and gave bread to the swans...
The hands are very expressive.
Very good as usual... rgs

kevinos (6927) 2007-05-12 14:15

You have caught a wonderful, expressive moment, Sarolta. I am surprise that you didn't post it as 'decisive moment' because it appears like a moment when language and communication are recognised. I love the way the bird echos the gesture of the baby and the mother. regards Kevin

robiuk (10763) 2007-05-13 18:23

Oh Sasa,
you shouldn't have mentioned that Proust's
madeleine as the word itself threw me some
20-ish year back into some confusing but absolutely
lovely time (that I had almost completely forgotten
about...) and the whole scene started telling a story
that I had somehow managed to erase incidentally...
as one does as life goes on and we change places...
Anyway & anyhow - lovely moment in life here, where I
don't miss that little bit of baby's face at all;
face and gestures of her/his parents help if one's not
sure about what they see in baby's eyes.
Robi

Polonaise (5638) 2007-05-27 20:38

You've realised Sasa, that your last several posts are about ..THE HANDS...
Do we realy need our faces to express ourselves fully..?
Aren't our hands good enough for the task?
The highest class.. Again... Routinely... Automatically...
Sasa!!

g.