Homeward Bound Photograph

Homeward Bound

Do you ever observe people on the street, watch them  walk by and wonder about them?  Maybe imagine what their life is like and where they are going?  When I spotted this man, walking along by the river, he just gave me the impression that he was homeward bound. I’m not sure why, it was just a feeling. And, of course, the Simon & Garfunkel song immediately jumped into my mind. There was nothing for it, I had to take the shot! And that’s how the Homeward Bound photograph began.

The Photograph

The photograph was taken in Westport, Co. Mayo.  It’s a lovely spot to visit and it has a special charm of its’ own.  You often see people strolling along the riverbank walk  From my perspective, I loved the way this scene was  reminiscent of what you could see in any town or city. Well, at least one that has a river or canal. And that is why I chose to take a reflection shot, one that could represent any location more easily because detail is lessened. It also blurred the distinction between the past and the present. The clothes he was wearing helped because they were timeless. I was lucky.

Like most reflection images, there were  loads of specks that needed to be removed. So that meant a lot of time with the spot healing tool and I find Photoshop great for this. I’m probably totally missing something, but I can’t get my head around doing this in Lightroom. I love it for other things, like organising your files, but their cloning options terrify me!

Background

I’ve always been a fan of Simon & Garfunkel and I think that their songs are poetry set to music.  So it’s not really surprising that it was one of their songs that popped into my head when I was taking the shot. However, when I came to process it, the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh also came to mind.

 I had an inspirational English teacher in Secondary school and I can still remember him reading “ Lines written on a Seat on the Grand Canal, Dublin. ” His love and passion for poetry shone through in every word and he brought the poem alive for me. He was one of the people who helped develop my creative instincts and I’ll never forget him.

Links

You can see a larger version of  Homeward Bound photograph  by clicking on it. Or, if you like, you can view it on flickr.

Other photos : Dream Hunter  Trapped