Equivalence

The other day I was sitting out on my porch with a new friend and we were staring at the yellow street lights' reflection off the wet pavement. We were getting to know each other in a late-night kind of way; telling stories, thinking in silence. While I was thinking how wonderful my view would look as an 11x14, Mike was thinking about how he hated the hue of the lights. He felt as though the street lights looked old, and the yellowish glare was nothing more than distracting. I said how the glow gave me nostalgia. When I saw the street lights I made connections to my old neighborhood, being out too late, scraped knees, my father, basketball courts, and corner stores. Our current perception of everything we see is a sum of all our past experiences. Photographs are the same way and I feel this reading did a great job explaining this concept I've always struggled with. Every photograph I take, I take because it makes me feel a certain way and I am able to make connections to my past; however, every other individual will experience my work differently for it will evoke different emotions through the connections they are making and their history.