roo_roo_s
I can’t shake you from my head, or shift you from my heart.
I would lend any displaced person my Polaroid camera and give them some film. Yes, I know that folks driven from home by war, famine or natural disaster have more important priorities; four walls, a bed, food, an income. Yes, I know that a smart phone could take and store photographs as well as being a practical lifeline. Yes, I recognise it is an archaic bit of technology and they might think that I was crazy. Nonetheless when you take a picture of where you stand right now in the world and then instantly hold that 10.752cm x 8.847cm slip of reality, it really helps you to take ownership of your present.
In my youth I only ever used a Polaroid camera to take continuity shots for TV shows. How was his shirt buttoned? How was her scarf draped? Functional pictures taken for the most trivial purposes; used to make sure that tomorrow would start out looking the same way as today ended.
Perhaps the illusion of continuity offers stability to us all, especially to folks who have lost everything, or perhaps we just know how hopeful we feel while we wait for an instant picture to develop. It is only blue sky thinking, but when we see creations such as roo_roo s wide horizons, boxed in their little frames, the world feels somehow safer.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, Rachel Irving and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
