Chalk one up for the Little Brother!

In July 2010, Katie and I took Blanden and Ellis to the Cherry Creek Art Festival (See Blog on July 10, 2010). Blanden was a veteran at these types of outings as we had made it a family priority to experience the City with our boys. Ellis was just over 1 month old and he was already in the Baby Bjorn partaking in the sights and sounds of urban living. I recall that the "Big Hit" for this year's festival was the hands-on Chalk-Art demonstration offered to the kids. Blanden fell in love with this activity. Ellis could only snuggle his Mom and hope that he too could be part of this experience one day. Although, Ellis has been drawing with chalk for quite some time now, this was the first time that Dad was able to devote a photo session to documenting this experience.

This morniung, Katie had put the boys in these neat Puma Track Suits. It did not not take long for these suits to be completely covered in chalk. You really can't worry about those types of things. "Boys will be Boys". I am happy to announce that the washing machine had returned these clothes to their prestine condition. 

I dare you to look at this photo and try not to smile. Not sure why DMV Offices don't post these types of posters instead of the ones that state that "Even temporarily leaving these premises will cause you to forfeit your place in line."  

Unfortunately, the high winds had cut-short the time the boys could practice their artistic skills. I'm thinking that the Easter Bunny might bring an impressive assortment of chalk and other related drawing tools for the boys. Since the Easter Bunny is super smart, I'm sure that each boy will get their very own kit...

Speaking of Art, Gretchen and Jeremy were having a discussion as to whether photographs should be considered as "Art". I can definitely see why questions like these are posed. In the modern world, photography is pretty simple. You buy a camera, point it towards the subject, snap the shutter release, then POW!...there's a picture ready for printing. I agree, if you look at photography from this perspective, it does seem more like a transaction than it does an artistic quest. However, those interested in the "Art of Photography" would claim that they are far less interested in the the various and asundry technical aspects of a given photo, than they are of the supposed emotions that the image is designed to invoke. I think that artful photography adeptly presents an image that forces the viewer to take an active role in intrepreting its meaning. Today, I shot this photo of Ellis while he was eating macroni and cheese. If I showed this photo to a hundred different people, I'd likely get a hundred or so different intrepretions. None of these intrepreations are wrong, but neither is one exclusively right. What story does the image tell you? Am I trying to get you to look at something?