When I am taking photos or creating a work of art, what moves me emotionally can be paramount to the piece. I must feel an attachment to the place, time, and a thousand other things that I experience.
These photo's from my friends condo in Washington D.C. place me in another time, as if I were crossing over into a past era. The street lights glow and if gas lanterns, and the yellow, almost sepia tone of the light makes the piece seem if one were walking down the avenue in an 1800's Washington D.C, if not for the modern cars in the foreground. There is a sense of nostalgia, somberness, and winsomeness in these photos. Carl Sandburg or Robert Frost could write a moving poem about these scenes. Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald could sing a song that would break our hearts. A movie could be made that would wrench our hearts and make us feel as if we were waiting for our lover to come home.
Mood can be so many things in art, as in Picasso's Blue period when he mourned the death of his close friend in Paris or Munch's Scream that personifies fright and horror in the human experience.
We are moved by our feelings and emotional attachment to sights, sounds, smells, and touch.
One whiff of diesel fuel and I am back standing on the harbor in Subic Bay Naval Base getting ready to board a boat to go snorkeling in the Crystal clear waters of the Philippines for the day. One whiff of Cafe Con Leche and I am in the Columbia restaurant in Ybor City listening to the staccato of Cuban Spanish punctuate the air. A soft glint of afternoon light on palm leaves and I am home again on the Gulf Coast of Florida. I know you also have experiences, sounds, smells, and other things that draw you to a moment in time. Art helps us reconnect with those feelings with a sense of mood.
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