A photograph arises from the relationship between the photographer and the camera, from the eye looking through the lens in the moment, and it attains meaning through those receiving the image long after the click.

Most images I take (or make) are domesticated one way or another but some remain strange. Here is a collection of photos where it seems to me that the subject is in some way defamiliarized, where the camera took it away.

All these photos were taken in our garden.

None of these photos have been edited or cropped – they are as the camera ‘saw’ them.

The photo of the butterfly is the only one that I shot in colour and altered to monochrome.

All the other photos were shot with the camera set to monochrome.

Perhaps the sense of strangeness arises from tricks of naturally occurring light.

Or maybe there is something unexpected about the perspective.

The subject itself might be inherently unusual.

The fascination may derive from the subject being in close-up.

It might also be that recognizable things can be less familiar simply when they are viewed in black and white, stripped of their natural colour.

Perhaps a lack of a focal point can lead to a sense of confusion.

When are fungi not strange? Perhaps when cooked for dinner?

It could be that we find strangeness only because we have been told it is there?

Strangeness can be a factor of somewhat random composition.

And shadow play introduces false negatives.

I thought these leaves looked strange even before I took the photo. It seems the camera concurred.

The strangeness of quaintness perhaps – but what is quaint actually?

What is that strange embryo of light lurking?

Posted by Carol