A Couple Photos for the Day

The first photo is of my late wife and my second-oldest child, who turns 24 this week. The second from Alabama Ballet is one that just struck me a few years ago and I saved.

My ward called for pictures of mothers to include in a Mothers’ Day slideshow, and I sent the one above. I like the contentment of the babe pressed to his mother and the happiness in her smile. The framing with her face hidden above the nose lends it a quality of being a general reflection on motherhood not exclusive to a specific mother.

The photo of the dancers—really the dancer—fits with the day as there is a fecundity to it. (A higher resolution copy may be had by clicking on it.) I like how it incorporates some ballet concepts and leaves aside others. It is precise and composed of lines, but the dancer is not one-dimensional. Though fit and trim, she is a real woman weighing real pounds. Perhaps that is a little too obvious and easy to appreciate. I like the legs not smoothed over with tights that could aid an anatomy lesson on their muscles and bones. I like the loose red hair.

What I find most interesting in this pose is the relationship between the man and the woman. On this site the question was once posed, “If woman is a work of art, then what is man?” This photo’s answer is: scaffolding. He is background dressed to not draw the eye. He is looking at her; she is looking past him. Not immediately obvious, because it’s meant not to be obvious, her dynamic pose with all of her weight to one side of her en pointe foot and her skirt thrown back would not be possible without his support standing beside her. There are many people over the years who only knew me as my wife’s husband. Fulfilling such a role can unleash a lot of beauty on the world.