My World: Little Girl and the Sea

[Jarmo Juntunen]

Blackwaterfoot, Isle of Arran, June 2012

One of the rare occasions when she's ever stood still long enough for a picture to qualify for something else than Action

 

[Asher Kelman]

Blackwaterfoot, Isle of Arran, June 2012

Jarmo Juntunen: My World: Little Girl and the Sea

​

Jarmo,

This is a wonderful picture. I thought this was someone else's child that you snapped and therefore didn't include her face. One's own kids are never as cooperative!

This picture has an isolation of the child and innocence that reminds me so much of Loretta Lux' works.

Loretta Lux : Paulin 1 2002


© Loretta Lux: I: shown under "Fair Use", editorial comment.
​

Except she adds distortion, enlarging the face and refining the features so we have no choice but to stare, a practice which is considered abhorrent in relationship to other folks children. However, we cannot resist the beauty. We look at her works though the adult's fantasy of what it's like to be a child with secrets and their own vision of the world and even the future. However, it's not real as we are adults in a make belief world when we see through her eyes.

Jarmo Juntunen: My World: Little Girl and the Sea

​

Your work, however, is much more gentle and less an assault on our senses. However, your photograph, although pastoral is not as demanding of us, the viewer. The distance between us you daughter is substantial. She's safe. The children in Lux's pictures, by contrast are uncomfortably close.

Thanks for sharing this significant picture. I will be returning to it often.

Asher

 

[jake klein]

The only thing I would have liked to see is a camera in her hands!

Beautiful photo.

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

Asher, thank you! I wasn't familiar with Lux's work but the example you exhibited here with the explanatory note really caught my attention. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work, it will be interesting to see if there are any other (unintentional) similarities between her carefully crafted pictures and my family album shots.

The only thing I would have liked to see is a camera in her hands!

Beautiful photo.

Thanks Jake! Come to think of it, I think she was playing photographer when this picture was taken. By the way, here's one of her with a camera:

Doesn't really have much to with the original post but somehow it felt appropriate here.

 

[Tom dinning]

Nice ones Jarmo. You havee captured you children beautifully. Hopefully they will thank you when you show these to them in 20 years or so.

 

[Jerome Marot]

This is very nice: the landscape, the pose, the composition and the colors. Am I the only one who notices that her hat is the same color as the sand?

 

[Sam Hames]

Spent part of today with nieces and nephews, so this really struck a chord.

It seems to work very well as a pair with the other one- have you thought of presenting them as a pair?

It does seem hard to capture some of the wonder of children when they don't even stay still long enough for it to all come together.

 

[Tom dinning]

That 'coming together' idea strikes a dull note somewhere. Does that mean we want the kids to behave so we can get what we call good photos (well composed, nice colour in a pleasant setting). Might it be more appropriate for us to adapt to the child with out skills and take what we can get? Then the moments are no longer rare but numerous.


mecanno by tom.dinning, on Flickr

 

[Asher Kelman]

Tom,

Photography about the human condition means so much to us. These pictures about children have our hopes, love and fears all bundled together, jostling for our attention. So there's a lot to think about.

Obviously you are right as usual in the value of unposed work, but I'd imagined, in the O.P. picture, the child was unaware of the picture being taken. Memento's are indeed family treasures and all these pictures will be important, far into the future, to others looking back at how we raised our kids in these "olden" days.

Of course, the picture by the beach is immediately seductive and allows adults to muse. But, I must admit the same applies to your picture.

mecanno

by tom.dinning, on Flickr​

Now if your picture was in a national gallery, (and it's that worthy), folk could and would write pages about it's significance.

Asher

 

[Tom dinning]

Tom,

Photography about the human condition means so much to us. These pictures about children have our hopes, love and fears all bundled together, jostling for our attention. So there's a lot to think about.

Obviously you are right as usual in the value of unposed work, but I'd imagined, in the O.P. picture, the child was unaware of the picture being taken. Memento's are indeed family treasures and all these pictures will be important, far into the future, to others looking back at how we raised our kids in these "olden" days.

Of course, the picture by the beach is immediately seductive and allows adults to muse. But, I must admit the same applies to your picture.

mecanno

by tom.dinning, on Flickr​

Now if your picture was in a national gallery, (and it's that worthy), folk could and would write pages about it's significance.

Asher

Capturing the moments of growth in our own children is a bonus for any photographer. My grandson, pictured here, seems almost unaware I have a camera in my hand. We play together and I take the shots as we play. Its almost as if its part of the play. He doesn't ask to look at them although I do show them to him. He shows little attachment to the image, only for the time we spend together. His story is the story behind these images. One day he may be in a position to understand and share that story with others. All I can do is to be part of it and help in any way I can.

 

[Jarmo Juntunen]

First of all, thank you all for this interesting conversation. I've been quite busy so I can only attend it now. I used to think that my kids should take my photography as something larger than life and make themselves available whenever I felt like shooting. After a couple of years, a lot of tears and even more frustration I gave up and realised I was completely wrong. Life itself can only be controlled to a very small degree. Accordingly, I need to document my kids growing up the way they grow up. Sure, I can try and accomplish technically good photos but in this particular area of photography such an aim can't be paramount. Instead of the "controller" I have become a "follower". And I like it. I think the past year has taught me a lot about photography. I think I'm slowly developing a sixth sense, I'm getting better with my gear and, last but certainly not least, I'm having a heck of time with the offspring.

Tom, that's a beautiful picture, my humble congrats!