October Meeting - Extended Member Share
by Barbara Royer

I love browsing in used book stores for old photography books and happened to find "Talking Pictures" by Marvin Heiferman and Carole Kismaric. They asked people to come up with the one picture that mattered most. I loved their idea...and the flash went off in my photographic brain...so, for our October program, we are asking you to take up the challenge! Here is how they explained it.

"We asked people to come up with the one picture that mattered most. The image that seduced, inspired, taught, frightened, amused offended, obsessed, informed, or provoked him or her. We made it clear that the picture could come from anywhere -- from a family album, a movie, an advertisement, television, a newspaper, even from a matchbook. But from all the pictures in the world, we were asking for just one.

We learned quickly that we were asking for a lot. Some people made it clear that what they picked was the picture for now, but if we ask them next year, they might select a different one. Some people took our question as a challenge, others a test, others a game. But when it was time to talk, people did so seriously, and they showed a real commitment to unraveling why they chose one picture over all others.

We never new how much people would reveal of themselves, how willing they would be to let go, to follow the avenues, associations, and feelings that a picture could provoke. Sometimes the tiniest part of a picture--a detail or a gesture--led to a deeply felt truth or conviction. Every picture turned out to have layers -- emotional, intellectual, and social.

Talking Pictures is a reminder that a single picture has the power to stop us in our tracks and reveal to us just who we are."

Are you up for the challenge? Bring in an image that matters most to you and share why. Second choice can be the image you shot that matters most to you and why.

Emile will take a count of the total number of people who have brought images and divide by the time we have available to show them. That will be the time each will have to share their ideas about the image. The important thing is that the person can talk about the image so we can learn more about each other. Any remaining time will be for comments.

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