Anna’s eye

I’ve been hiking a few times with a woman from Poland named Anna Smolenska-Howie as part of a Meet-Up hiking group. The group is for people who enjoy photography and hiking. Anna’s photos are amazing. I’ve learned from her work how critical composition is. Which doesn’t mean I have that ability myself to frame a shot artistically. My snaps always come up short in conveying what I’ve seen, while hers seem to show more than what I remember seeing. How is it we can walk the same paths yet come away with photos telling a different story--hers dramatic, quirky, artistic, moody; mine bland, diluted, too macro in scope.

Anyway, Anna told me a long time ago that she also paints. Tonight she had her first show at a gallery in North Belfast. I went to the show and loved her paintings, as I fully expected I would. She has a unique perspective, a way of looking at the world from an angle I don’t consider. I’ve always loved that about photographers and painters--their ability to make you look at things differently. I took a photography class in college and really enjoyed it, maybe because I needed to be challenged to look at the world from a new angle. I bought one of Anna’s watercolours and will share it with you in two weeks when I get it.
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