Follow the Leader

The flowers stretch around one after the other from the foreground to the background.

So often we are asked to critique. What do you like about this painting, that book, the movie? What specifically did you enjoy? What didn't work for you? What would you have rather seen happen? Then you may have the arttists, writers, filmmakers ask you those or other questions. What did you come away from the film thinking? What did you take from the story? What did you see? I've been on both sides of this equation, but more often as a writer I ask, "Did you enjoy the story [I wrote]?" As a photographer, "Do you like this photo?" This doesn't mean that I don't appreciate the more in depth analyses, should people offer them, but for me the questions are much more simple. I write because I have stories to tell, I photograph because I see things I find beautiful. Not everyone has a grand sophisticated artist statement. I share my stories because I like to make people laugh, and I share my photographs because I like to share what I have seen.