Distance

(Photography selected from the internet)

(My own photograph)
The above photograph (the second one of the female) is a photo i took of my closest friend, Jonnie. After deciding to use this particular photograph, i found a similar one on the internet which i feel accurately relates to my photograph and what i was trying to portray in it. The two photographs are theme-related, not necessarily subject related. That is quite evident, due to the fact that my friend does not look anything like the older man in the photo above. The relationship between the the two photos lies within how i perceive them and the subjects within them. In fact, that is exactly my point. I find it very difficult to make a judgment about my friend; everything from her dead, empty stare to placement of her fingers and hand--it all confuses me. I am not sure how to read her; i don't know what she was thinking. That is explanatory for the basis of our friendship too. Many a times, she is not the most expressive about her thougths and feelings, and i am quite the opposite. She often will start a sentence, stop herself, and then stare off into space. It bothers me that i can't know what she is thinking, and that she almost seems to be content with not expressing herself to the fullest potential. So, this photo really captures a great moment when she was deep in thought, with a finger on her lip, probably thinking of something more philosophical and insightful than i could ever think up! One might see her large eyes and raised eyebrows and think that she was surprised at the moment, but being the photographer, i know that she was merely just sitting and thinking, leaving me wanting to know what about! The photograph from the internet is similar in that the man is clearly not facing the camera and seems to be completely submerged within his own world. His eyes speak, but in a language i can't understand. It's a language that no one can understand, because he seems distant, cold, far away from the viewer. In all, we are eager to know what is on his mind. All we can see is that that cigarette is the most intimate thing he has in the photo. The viewer is left to decide for himself what the man is thinking, just like my friend.