Unfinished business

Thank you for your thoughts.

You glance down and notice that life has set the table for you. If you look, the pictures are there and it's obvious that you look. The kids are gone but they're present in their stuffed animal, crayons and drawings. It's a portrait in absentia.

Jack,

I like "portrait in absentia". You probably noticed I put it in a folder along with other portraits. It has so much character of human personality, yet without a visible face. Thank you very much for your valuable comment.

I could not say it any better than Jack and I am in total agreement. This image is 'fresh' and that is partially why I am drawn to it. It also reminds me of my ongoing and weekly babysitting of granddaughters and of a time not too long ago.  That was the recent past but now it is transportation to piano and ballet lessons.  

 

PS is that a smiling face in the window? (*_*)

whom ever is behind this is a creator of a msterpiece

Yes Jack said it best.  I love the quality of light and your POV. The Crayon closest to me leads me in and after I saw that cute smiling toy - there is a beautiful feeling of safety here Supriyo.

I like your idea (and execution) of portrait in absentia. So many possibilities. I like the childlike perspective, from down low, you took the photo from. The sliver of window, the way the chairs feel so tall. Since I love the texture of the bed cover, especially since it's part of the closeup foreground, I would probably have fretted over losing all detail in the strong highlight areas. I love how the camera elongates the first crayon. There's a kind of innocence to that distortion here. Very nice photo.

Fred,

In your insightful comment, you have covered all the aspects which I myself find noteworthy in the photo, the low point of view, the crayons acting like guidelines to form a converging focal point, the prominent texture of the tablecloth. All of these thoughts worked together in a flash when I shot this image. However I didn't consider it to be a portrait until much later, while posting. On afternoons like this, I sometimes walk around the house when everyone has retired. and I notice so many signs of human activity around me, each one bearing the signatures of distinct personalities, but without any human presence. It feels almost eerie. So many human features can be encoded in spatial arrangement of still objects, tenderness, passion, exhaustion, rage, humor, and these objects almost talk back at you. This is one of those moments, I was compelled to shoot.

 

You are right about the blown highlights.