Talking Pictures

Talking Pictures
Birds Of Peace

Shutterbug Staff  |  Sep 1, 2003

The Photographer's Travel Guide

© 2003, Joshua J. Pate-Terry, All Rights Reserved

I don't believe there are any accidents in life. My friend from Seattle came to visit me several months ago. He wanted to catch up and go take pictures with me. After an uneventful afternoon, we decided to get something to eat and ran across a war protest in downtown Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, I left my camera in my car several blocks away. I ran to the car, snatched my gear and ran back. When I returned I found most of the protesters gone on a march. I rested up a little and started taking some snapshots to warm up. Then the protesters started filtering back in.

I then saw a young girl feeding the birds. She didn't seem to care about the banners, the police, or any of the chanting. She simply wanted to feed the birds. This little girl was at peace with the world. She understood what was going on around her, but at that moment the simplest of pleasures were more important. Peace was defined as "playing with the birds."

As I began shooting I was unaware of what film I was using. I was unaware I had a red filter on my lens. I was attentive of my camera's internal meter, but mostly just out of habit. You see for me at that moment, my peace was defined as "a little girl enjoying the birds."
--Joshua J. Pate-Terry
Portland, Oregon
The premise of Talking Pictures is that all of us have images that carry an internal narrative that we rarely get to share. This entails more than just camera, exposure, and film. It might include what provoked us to snap the shutter or how, in retrospect, the image makes us feel.

We invite you to submit images and words for this department. Please send only one image and brief text with each submission. Because we will print the pictures large please make sure that the image can take the blowup. For this department we will accept only high-quality prints (5x7 or 8x10) and slides--no digital files, please. We will not be able to return the images to you because of the volume we anticipate receiving. And by sending us the image you grant us permission to print it in the magazine and on our web site. We also may hold publication for some time.

So come on, get published and share your ideas and inspiration. Send submissions to:
Talking Pictures, Shutterbug,
5211 S. Washington Ave.,
Titusville, FL 32780.

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