Friends With Inspiration

So, I have this friend. Let's call her, "Christine." We both take photographs. You could say we are both unconsciously driven to do this thing (the blessing + curse thing). What's interesting is that we are both settling into our respective styles (or at least our respective styles, for now). Stylistically, we overlap on about 10-15% of our respective visionary spectrum.

But there's something that she does that makes me crazy and crazy-jealous though. Maybe it's because I get it, maybe it's because it is just how she does her thing (with an ease and a grace to it), or maybe it's just because it's something that I cannot do or cannot do any longer. But, there's a subtlety, a lightness, and an "aw shucks" candor that I cannot force any longer.

For instance, two recent photos (mouse-click to see larger image/see notes). Note several differences:

Hers:Mine:

It's hard to pinpoint why this is of terrific interest to me. It's hard to say why this matters. But, there's a subtle thing that is making me wonder what lies ahead for me and for "Christine."

Maybe, again, it's because I get Christine's photographic work. Maybe it's because I'm disappointed I didn't make such a good picture. Maybe it's just the nudges that keep us all going. Dunno. But, I'm proud of her. It's interesting though: 1) she has no idea how good she is (and nobody should tell her), and 2) I'm convinced that I'll never be as good as I want to be (and nobody should tell me either).