Re-View

I posted some photos on my blog yesterday and the one that shows a man sitting on a bucket while ice fishing is already one of my all-time favorites. I would love to know more about the photo, but I just realized that I took it from Library of Congress collection that’s posted on Flickr. It’s one of over 3,000 photos. And if I go back and find it, what information is attached to the photo?

Maybe I don’t need to know anymore than what is seen. The man looks so very much alone. You almost forget that the photographer was present. It’s the eyes; the fact that you can’t see them that gives that feeling of remoteness. Eyes connect you with a subject.

As I look at it, all sorts of subconscious stuff floats up; my father was from Minnesota. I think they go ice fishing there? But he left that cold climate as a child. Would my grandfather have gone ice fishing? Sat on a bucket, in the cold and pondered what to make of his life? Maybe.

In the meantime, the picture was free and so it's mine now and I can think whatever I want about it.