Flirting, I would argue, is a natural, even healthy part of life. I love to flirt.
Yes, even if you are in a committed relationship.
Your eyes lock, with another human being. For an instant. You connect. You smile, nod, blink, wink.
What you are doing, when you flirt, is affirming and validating each other’s style, look, body type, vibe, general appeal, and attractiveness. It’s wonderful and should be encouraged. We need, with each other, even if fleeting and subtle, more life attestations, confirmations, and ratifications. I see you. I recognize you. I hear you.
It’s innocent. It happens, in the twinkling of an eye, done. You both move on, feeling better about yourselves.
For many of us, perhaps even most of us, on this feed, we have a “Blink and Wink” approach to photography
We see something, momentarily, that attracts us to a subject, scene or scenario. We grab our smartphones and shoot away, often without much forethought, intention, or aesthetic motivation.
Click.
We are flirting with objects and by recognizing them, bringing them into existence.
I do this too. My feed is full of “Blink and Wink” photos. I shoot, seemingly, photographs, all day long, as I move and meander through the routines, rituals, and rhythms of life.
Click. Click again. Click still again.
But, at least in my experience, it’s not so much these “Blink and Wink” photos that I remember and treasure most. It’s the ones that are born out of the other stages.
Maybe think of this total rush and gush, photographic experience, in life, as a pyramid with “Blink and Wink” on the bottom.
With each stage, as you move up the pyramid, there is an increasing degree and amount of velocity (the time you spend photographing), intensity (the effort you spend photography), and emotionality (the intimacy of the photography experience)
If “Blink and Wink” is the bottom, base, most common part of the pyramid, the next level up is “Stare and Glare”, as you linger longer and look more intensely. Then comes the “Blush and Crush” stage: your heart feels faint, weak, and overwhelmed. At that point, at the very top is the “Kiss and Bliss” level. You know full well what happens here 🙂 Ahhhhh.
In my own photography efforts, being the poet I am, I always aim for the “Kiss and Bliss” stage when creating and capturing photographs. But, truth be told, I can clearly see hints of all the other levels in my work and effort too: “Blink and Wink”, “Stare and Glare”, “Blush and Crush”.
Here’s the deal and perhaps the most important part of all this. You can’t expect “Kiss and Bliss” results when only making “Blink and Wink” efforts. It doesn’t and will never work like this in your photography (or your life)
If you want “Kiss and Bliss” results, make a “Kiss and Bliss” effort.
Click,
Jack
