Mom's Kitchen Table

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Silver plate engraved jewel.

This says it all. It is elegant in its simplicity. I think what strikes me most about this picture is that it seems to capture a time when things were what they were and not what they represented. Today everything seems overproduced, whether it's food at a restaurant, a rock concert, or a designer-created showroom of a house. Sometimes it seems like the more we add, the less we have. I'm sure many people will approach this picture on an aesthetic level and certainly the composition and tones and the fall of light invite comment. But for me the technical qualities are at the service of an emotional connection. I don't want to deconstruct this room; I want to eat dinner here.

Home sweet home!

PDE

The overall appeal of the photo comes completely from its title rather than from the subject itself. In addition to being technically good and compositionally sound, this image carries a measure of deep impact and interest for a viewer. Perfect!

Wonderful and expressive work. This image is probably rooted in your memories. I find wonderful how probably everyone of us has this image in their memory. I do, I have seen this, and it gives me a sensation of warmth and love.

This is where light and memory comes to dine. I am enchanted by this photograph. 

It's not the interior that is striking, it is the effect of the light streaming through.  The imprint of light and shadow on everything contained in the room.  The tabletop, bare and glossy, transformed by the marriage of lace and light.

 An instant flashback. A photo that gently coaxes us to remember days gone by. Beautiful! ~~~~~~~~L

wonderful play of light. compliments -koushik

The light and tones are so very beautiful and the nostalgic sense it brings makes this a classic! Beautifully done! Did I mention I really love the light? Thank you for sharing! :)

Gunnar… Jack… Pierre… El… Antonio… Dan… Jeff… Linda… Koushik... Trisha…

Thank you all so much – such a thrill to read what you write.

El… your comment got me thinking if the pic would carry the same emotional connotation with a different title.  Say, ‘Untitled’, which is a reliable choice when there is no available title to serve the shot, and a good one it is too, as it totally frees the viewer.  But it’s hard to measure the extent a title influences the viewing of a picture.  My rule of thumb is for the picture to carry itself, alone if need be, or with a title that works only as a re-affirmation of the content. The shot above is indeed my mom’s kitchen table.

This is wonderful Carlos.The light through the curtains, and reflected on the table is amazing. This has a warm comforting feel, like homemade soup on a chilly day.

thanks much Linda -- the home made soup is a tailor made connection here, fits just right. Plus mom really makes divine soups -- really, really -- I'm not just glorifying the woman.

it seems that whenever we stray we tend to end up in somewhat the same direction ;-)

Anyway the word serene comes to mind when looking at this. Both the refelction on the table and the wall turn this into a very appeling photo which lifts it way above what otherwise would merely be a technical shot. Having said that technically it's handled very well whcih is what it sets off to be a very appealing and succesfull photo. I like this one very much Carlos.

HI CARLOS.. I LIKE IT IN SOME WAYS BUT IN ANOTHER WAY ITS LACKING SOMETHING? it would appear that no one dines here anymore.. that it has been left behind.. i cant put my finger on it? i guess i am not seeing the whole picture? maybe if it has another chair or if the chair wasnt so neatly pressed against the table? maybe a centre peice? a picture on the wall perhaps. it seems too empty... open up the window and  let the breeze in.... i am not feeling the warmthness... samme

I think that this is a photo that benefits enormously from being shown in monochrome. If this had been in color, the combination of the tiled walls on the left, and the light colored wooden table in this capture, might have looked a tad too busy, or bright, and maybe somewhat bland, but likely not interesting enough to convey a particular feeling, imo. It might have given the impression of looking at a plain little kitchen table. By looking at it in B&W on the contrary, it seems to have acquired a somewhat muted, and intimate mood. I feel that it conveys a kind of ‘cocooning feeling’ if you will. Maybe because the metal blind was pulled down so that the sun would not be too bright, as well as the fact that there are 3 chairs around the table instead of 4, makes it possible to create less of an oppressive feeling, and to better show the effect of the curtains’ reflection on the shiny table top. I feel that I am looking at a photo of a place the photographer knows well, and think that you beautifully managed to convey your own personal conception of your mother's kitchen table, Carlos.

 

Thanks Ton – it’s a major delight to wake up in her home and have breakfast sitting at this table, hear her stories, some new, some retold, and to feast on the wonderful dishes she prepares. Planning and preparing meals is a serious ritual in this house and I love her consulting me and deliberately considering tomorrow’s lunch and dinner, her sole purpose to set the table with the food I love. I must have photographed just about every nook and cranny in the apartment.  All the familiar objects comfort me. I appreciate the pictures taken over time hanging on the walls or standing in the mantelpiece. We live across the ocean, yet my children and I are absolutely central to this world she created for herself. And I love to make her laugh and I’m pretty good at it too. I've always had supreme power over her that way, probably all the way back to 1950 when she was fifteen years old and I was just being  born. What others see today between this woman and I is a vibe closer to brother sister than it is to a mother and her son.

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Thanks Samme, I take your point about ‘…open up the window and  let the breeze in’ but to do so in Lisboa under the August sun heat of 40 plus degrees would make the place unlivable. The tidiness is not so much mom’s doing but the cleaning lady' who visits several times a week - I shot this moments after she left. Attached is a less tidy view of my mother's world…

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Marjolein, as you notice I moved a chair out of the way to best advantage the light play on the table but to be honest the sentimental associations, the personal connection you remark only manifested latter - I didn't see it until latter. Thank you very much =  to you and your perceptive eye.

Beautiful light and atmosphere:).