- HOWARD MOO YOUNG
A portrait of three national icons stands out in Half-Way Tree.Howard Moo Young, Contributor
IMAGINE A world without photographs, imagine a newspaper or magazine for that matter, without photographs; each page would look like the classifieds. And as for the 'death column', you sometimes remember a name, but you won't forget a face. Can you imagine going to the magazine stand to identify your favourite publication, trying to read the titles using only typography? What did that 'Hottie, Hottie Girl' look like in yesterday's Star newspaper?
It would be difficult and time-consuming to find Time, National Geographic, House & Garden, Car & Driver and Cosmopolitan on the magazine rack. Ever wondered what your great-grandmother looked like if your grandmother didn't save that old family black-and-white photograph off the wall before 'Hurricane Charlie' in 1951?
BETTER LOOKING
We know what Marcus Garvey, George William Gordon, Paul Bogle and even Queen Victoria looked like, but I'm quite sure that Nanny of the Maroons was good looking, strong, tall and... Ah well, without a photograph, we will never know, as there wasn't any Barry Watson [the painter] around at the time.
home in Jamaica without photographs of family members. If they are not in albums, you'll find them stashed away in small boxes, envelopes, between pages of books or sitting prominently on the dresser, no matter how palatial or humble that place of abode. In every wallet there are pictures, even if there is no money.
PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPHS
The amount of passport photographs that immigration officers in every country look at each day would be impossible to count. Certain personnel carry ID tags with their photos attached for security reasons. Even pictures of lost pets are published in the newspapers to help the public find them. And what about those massage parlours? Don't be fooled by the photos of those girls that are seen in the classified ads. I'll bet that they just left for lunch.
We all know what the surface of the moon looked like when man first walked on it by pictures taken by a camera, way out in space. We also have seen the wreckage of the Titanic, thousands of feet below the ocean's surface. What am I trying to tell you?
I'm saying that without pictures, life would be totally boring. I'm also saying that a child could learn to spell 'daddy' but some wouldn't have a clue what he looked like. Imagine a world without photographs, all of us would become artists, painters and illustrators. That's how it used to be before the camera was invented.
Someone once said "A picture is worth a thousand words." How true? A great photograph can literally stop you in your tracks, believe me! I've seen it time and time again. It can be one of beauty, shock or dismay. It can make you laugh, cry, or simply turn your head away. It can bring back memories from our childhood, or give us hope for the future, or give us no hope at all.
Ever thought of what goes through the photographer's mind as he or she looks through the viewfinder? Is it the colour, the patterns of light, the contrast of subjects, or an attempt to make a statement on society? We all have different reasons to take pictures, and that's why whatever is recorded, whether on film or digital in our cameras, it's a part of us. As photographers, we can create images that can change our communities, towns, cities, and our nation. We can also create works of beauty and art. We can make statements.
THE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
The portrait photographer captures the personality and character of a person. The photojournalist gets the pictures that make the front pages of our newspapers. The sports photographer gets the peak of the action that culminates in victory or defeat. The macro photographer captures every detail and colour in a butterfly's wing, or in a fly's eye.
The world of photography is wide open to anyone who wants to learn and develop their skill with the camera. You don't need a science degree to become a good photographer, what you need to learn is to start looking at everything around you with a different perspective, even without a camera. You will start to see things you have never seen before, you'll become aware of a world that you did not know existed, right there in your own backyard.
The photos included here were all captured in Half-Way Tree last Saturday with a simple disposable camera.
Howard Moo Young is an advertising/graphic design/photography consultant with over 40 years experience. Email:mooimages@yahoo.com
