NZ Visual Diary - entry 236

socialising on K Road

The full-faced and neck tattooing caught my eye, especially in what appeared to be a floral theme. I do not have a single tattoo never mind a bodily bouquet, but I am fascinated by those who express self identification and group connection through body art.

I stood for some time at a respectful distance to consider what else impressed me about this ordinary scene of four guys spending time together on a Sunday afternoon.

In observing the scene, I looked first for the centrifugal forces that tug and pull at the cohesion of the group. (Those of us viewing this post who know me well will not be surprised that, in loosely metaphoric manner, I use terms from physics, a discipline whose conceptual language captivates me, to describe social interactions.)

Boots and sneakers; leather and cloth; hoodies and branded hats; sweatshirt and jackets; beards and tattoos; black and bland - all material expressions of individual difference, of personal stories informed and shaped by cultural circumstances that require time and repetition to be understood and appreciated.

When we precipitously judge rather than engage first in conversation to understand the profundity of otherness, we create a volatile swirl of centrifugal forces that tear at the fabric of discourse and the possibility of enduring friendship.

The photographer in me looks for references of composition and expression; of form, shape and line; of colour and tone; and how those elements in combination create stories. As someone trained in the social sciences, I am watchful for visual vignettes that express the power and fragility of sociability. I respond to visual cues to ponder what pulls against and what binds us together - the centrifugal and centripetal forces that rent or cement our humanity.