Snap of the Month: November 2013

Background--The camera hadn't been cleaned since I returned from Burning Man and, shockingly, a dry, windy desert environment is not the best place for a camera to be if you want it to remain clean.  We (and by we I mean about 90% Goran and 10% me) dedicated four hours of a Saturday to clean the sensor on the camera.  Many sterile rags were used along with two pairs of tweezers, a pair of scissors, an aluminium ruler, several curse words, and a vacuum.  Part of sensor cleaning is needing to take long exposures on a flat blank surface, like a wall or ceiling, to see where dust and dirt is located.  The camera was held in a vice grip and pointed directly at the ceiling for this purpose.


Thoughts--At one point, boredom inspired me to photo-bomb the test exposure with my nostrils.  I'd never gotten a good close-up of my nose and especially not from a low angle and I was curious to see what came out.  It was then that Goran revealed that one of his nostrils was so blocked that when he inhaled really hard through his nose, the nostril would simply close down on itself.  I like this shot because 1) that phenomenon is not discussed nearly enough, and 2) this photo doesn't look like a nose to me.  It reminds me of the type of story you would read in a children's book about a small, stubby nose-shaped man who experiences all sorts of misfortunes simply because he is a small, stubby nose-shaped man.  This nose has character.  It has personality.  You could write a story about it.  It makes me think more about this incredible anatomical feature than I ever have before and photography is supposed to make you think.  Even if the shot is not technically good, if it makes you think then it has accomplished it's ultimate goal.  And who's to say what is ultimately worth thinking about?  I spend a good chunk of my waking hours thinking about stuff that I know is trivial and/or that I know I shouldn't be wasting my time on in the first place (I'm looking at you MSN.com).  However, if a photo makes you think it shouldn't matter if it's of a starving child, a war refugee, or a clogged nostril.  It's good photography if it makes you think.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

(This was the best defense I had for making this picture the snap of the month when really I just like the picture for no particularly noble reason)