Flamingo as Design
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A. 2015
Years and years ago, I watched a French film called Camille Claudel. I can remember the name because the French pronounce Camille “kam-EE”. (Things like that stick in my mind.) That and the fact that Camille Claudel was an extremely talented sculptor and graphic artist. She worked with Auguste Rodin. You’ve heard of him, but most likely you haven’t heard of her. According to the film, Rodin relied on her to create poses for his world famous statues, as if she were his choreographer. She got no, or very little, credit of course. And like a typical woman, she kept on creating despite his hogging all the fame and glory. Oh the injustice of it all!!
O.K. now that I’ve got that off my chest, the other thing I remember is that she had to work to create her poses. They didn’t just come in a flash. She experimented and discarded and tried again. It’s the old process thing as my daughter taught me.
What’s the point? Well, I’ve gone to the zoo to shoot flamingoes several times…and it’s just now after many disappointing afternoons that I’m getting what I want with my photos. I’m still not sure as I am shooting, but I’m happy when I get home and look at my shots. In my mind, Camille Claudel would approve of this flamingo pose.
Flamingo in Black and White
This is a gorgeous design. I’d never appreciated “design” as an aspect of flamingos, yet now I see that’s what a flamingo is really all about.
I know!! I used to go for the entire Flamingo but then decided that up close and personal was best.