“Use a filter – it may change perspectives” (Post 49)

Years ago, before the digital camera came to enthrall us with is endless possibilities, I remember being captivated by those photography magazines which showed us those filter sets that one could attach to the lens of the camera and then a bland photograph could pulsate with a red or a yellow glow to look like those LP covers of the 1970’s, for example. I did not really get to use those, because developing a roll of film was costly then. I am not a trained photographer, but as a creative I like it when the experts teach me novel ways of altering an image without too much interference.

Nowadays we all possess a cell phone that can tweak our images but, I think, we are so busy we don’t have time to play now and we no longer blink twice when we see an altered photograph. All those smart ideas of yesterday are now built into all our devices and we forget we have them at our disposal if we want to rework an image.

I picked an abstract oil on board work for this post (the first image - blue one), because it made me think of words like: focus, vision and determination. After I had chosen the work, I felt a nudge to invert it and I wanted to see if these tweaks would change the impressions I attached to this work. Perhaps, my inverting idea stems from the current personal state I am in; I am now forced by circumstances – which I created myself perhaps – to look at my world differently, in order not be overwhelmed by the imagined or real obstacles of my own aspirations. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I can never possess all the possible perspectives or “filters” myself to see all the implications of the possible scenarios, I will need other people to uncover my subjectivity – and my focus or target will inevitably be affected.

Enough deep talk, let us get back to the art work. The composition of the work is rather structured and the original colour scheme leans towards the masculine side. However, by looking at the inverted versions which I created with the help of Inkscape, I think I may have to include other words too. Let me try. The green one I would link to: growth, hope and strength. The peach one may get attributes like: elegance, kindness and composure. The ochre one may anchor us with: stability, honesty and peace.

We need to be reminded occasionally that our perspectives are truly biased and tainted by our present state of mind. Let us put on our rose-coloured spectacles when we cannot see clearly anymore and let us not forget to phone a friend when our colourful options seemed to have vanished.