By accident - Part 1

On September 12, 2020, I started as a participant in the mentorship program of Nature Photography by famous Dutch nature photographer Bart Siebelink. I wrote about this mentorship earlier on, see the first blogpost on this LINK.

The fourth meeting was held online on November 13, 2020. One of the assignments to work on after the fourth meeting: create a coherent image story of 6 photos within a time limit of 3.5 hours tops. Write down a short explanation along with each photo to make clear what role the specific photo plays in the story. With each photo, report the function that the photo fulfills in the entire series.

The image story was a real struggle for me, mostly because I had a traumatic experience just before I would start on my series. Here it goes... (part 1!).

"I have finally been able to create my image story. Unfortunately, I had a tough week. I could hardly get anything out of my hands: a car accident happened right in front of me. I was able to hit the breaks in time, though my car drove through the car parts of the car in front of me... it had crashed. I was the first to arrive to see the damage. I ran across the left side of the highway, which was very dangerous. Eventually I rescued a mother and two children out of the car wreck. The massive airbag had saved them from serious harm. Mostly they had bruises and the mother was in shock. My shock came afterwards when I realized what had happened and also how dangerous it was for me to go and help.

I had to force myself to take pictures, safely in my own garden. I just really wanted to put my mind on something else. The week before I had filled a can with water, fall leaves and nuts, and put them in the freezer. The huge block of ice was my inspiration for an image story in macro photos.

The first image:

An overview of the block of ice. I deliberately left the edges of the block in the photo and slightly dimmed the reflection of the light on the left. The naked reality. That is how I felt during the accident. I was alone for so long before others came to help. I felt like I wasn't doing well enough because of the sudden confrontation with this moment. I did what I could and still felt like not being enough. But I forgot an important notice: something is perfect because of imperfection. Where 20 people 'just' drove on without helping in such a dreadful situation, I stopped. I stopped because of a feeling of humanity, a moral duty. It was enough. I am enough.

The second image:

I zoomed in a bit more on the leaves. These leaves seem to protect each other. The several shades of color make the image glow. Reminding me: I am not alone. Help is always nearby, in all kinds of shades. Everyone has his/her role in the universe. I got out of the dreadful situation safely. I opened the wreckage. I called 911 and asked people how they were. How can I help? I risked my life in this very dangerous place. But I am here. Being there is good enough. The leaves are there in front of each other, close together, very near.

The third image:

I zoomed in even closer on the leaves. The red leaf lies warmly on the orange leaf, comforting. Or is the red leaf resting on the orange leaf? Consolation is essential, it makes one human. I go through fire and rain, even for people I don't know at all, but who are in need. The fiery colors of the leaves support this. I am strong, brave and I give comfort. And I also comfort myself."

In part 2 I will show the other images of this image story. To be continued...