Anne Frank once said, “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” It’s the gift of the artistic mind to see beauty in places where the untrained eye cannot. But, what trains the eye? Isn’t it the ability to see more than the surface of things? It’s the ability to look at spaces and places that seem dead and cold and to feel the history, the subtle shifts in time and space, the flow of life and the present. In these places there are always colors and lights, all one has to do is stop and take it in.
A perfect example: New England Ruins. I dare you to look at these pictures and not feel more than subtle shades and tints. There was life in these ruins, stories told and memories lost. Train your eye on these pictures and then work on the assignment that follows.
“Magazine”
“Shapes”
“Norwich State Hospital”
“Asbestos”
“Hudson River Toothbrush”
“Norwich State Hospital Bowling Alley”
“Iron Lungs”
Here’s your LAB Assignment for the day: Pick one of these pictures and, in 100 words or less, tell us how they it makes you feel. Remember the words of Anne Frank as you write: “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”