I don't blame any of you who might not "get it", as this image is intended as a psychological study and you kind of need a bit of back story to know what I'm getting at.
This image is meant to accompany a poem, and the poem provides the context for understanding this image. You can find the poem here..
I interpreted the poem as being about an angry daughter, who had a mother who was in some way abusive or emotionally damaging. Her mother sews, and the imagery in the poem related to her mother is centered on sewing.
I thought of the psychology of people who have been abused and thought they, generally speaking, would be strongly desirous of safety, and protection - they wouldn't be inclined to take emotional risks.
And then I thought, all our emotions and needs tend to have outward expressions, particularly unconscious outward expressions, so I started to think about this particular woman, the woman of the poem, and what the externalization of her inner anguish would be. Since she sees her mother, the source of her pain, in terms of sewing, I thought: what is the quintessential symbol of safety and protection for sewing?
The thimble.
I decided the woman would be a thimble collector. But not just any thimble collector - not decorative thimbles, collectible thimbles - she would be a horder of thimbles, masses and masses of them, with no particular regard for their beauty or individuality. The thimbles' sole purpose would be almost talismanic, their presence meant to soothe her.
But they don't soothe, or the effect is fleeting, and she is fated to continue to desperately horde more and more, to feed her compulsion for safety.
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shot at around the 200mm end of the lens
oh, and I swear I got these thimbles expressly for the project, I didn't already own them. ;)
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more than Basic Editing version:
Statistics
Place: 18 out of 86 Avg (all users): 5.8515 Avg (commenters): 6.4667 Avg (participants): 5.7778 Avg (non-participants): 5.8726 Views since voting: 1200 Views during voting: 312 Votes: 202 Comments: 20 Favorites: 0
I love the story behind this! I rather liked the picture itself before that, too. And I wondered if the thimbles had been purchased for the shot - can't see having that many of the same ones unless one routinely administers quilting bees with novices. I like the way you think.
wow - great image. i feel it can stand on its own, but the story is very intriguing nonetheless! i particularly like how the dof makes an abstract of the distraught. that seems to work well, the thimbles clearly overwhelming the subject. excellent tones, as usual. if the poem is posted publicly online, you can stick a link in your comments without worry. hey - you oughta do a series of these!
I'm glad this placed in the top 20 since I had it rated highly. Now that I know more about the story behind the picture, I can say it deserved a better score. The sharpness and details in the thimbles are what sold the image for me.
The background is really distracting. It is out of focus...but there is enough detail to make me guess at what it is. It looks like a back...but I'm probably wrong. The thimbles are nice though.
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