The beauty of great Photography

 Each new year we go down to the local second hand book shop and buys up a pile of National Geographic magazines for the small amount of just R2. I do this simply for the beautiful photographs inside and of course the great stories, but my purpose in buying them at this time of year is purely so the boys can choose and stick something interesting on the front of their books. Dont get me wrong I love surfing pics and motor bike pics and the like but I just like that they have something other, something interesting stuck onto their book. I like to stretch them a bit away from the usual towards the unusual. They in turn have really got into this whole process and enjoy choosing the right photograph for the right book.

Last night I sat and went through the magazines and took out some pictures that might be suitable. I found myself, once again, being so thrilled and inspired by the absolutely fabulous photographs used in the stories. The story of Glass in one had to remain in the book ( a great project or oral subject) and then there was the history of cowboy painting or art. This article and the supporting photographs and drawings just blew my mind. The story of Russia and Moscow in particular was full of extraordinary Photographs of beautiful buildings and ice caked trees. The photographs from every day life Naples pull at me to visit and the photographs of life in remote and sad places  caused me to remind myself that life for many, many people is all toil and hardship and that The Other on this planet is in need.

Of course the book and magazine is a dying thing in the new more modern world of technology and on line sites. So check out this site for some excellent photographs and stories.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/


I Find myself caught between the love of the computer and all that it offers ( well not all but you know what I mean), and that sad place where we have said goodbye to things like photo albums to hand around at a diner party ( which we did recently from our trip to South America so long ago now. We landed up having a great time sharing and chatting and I realised later on that we have lost a lot in the gaining of much).  So I am one of those who am saddened that one day I wont be able to go down to the local second hand book shop and buy up old National Geographic to page through and to ponder.