click photo to enlargeIn a recent post that features a photograph of my feet I observed that, after the face, the part of the human body that is felt to be most expressive of a person is the hands. A while ago I was making a pair of display boards for a local club of which I'm a member, and, as I fixed the screws that held the hinges, I looked down at my busy hands and wondered how I could incorporate them in an image.
As is often the case with me, I let this thought float about in my head for a few days, turning it first this way, then that, until an idea began to coalesce. I'd been looking at some photographs I'd taken a couple of years ago that involved placing objects on mirrors. What interests me in images made like this is that you not only get the reflection of the object, but you also have an element of confusion on the first viewing as the mind works out what is going on to create the visual dislocation.
The result is today's photograph, which isn't strictly a shot of hands, but of fingers, the most expressive and useful part of the hand. It includes some of the screws I'd been using to fix those hinges that I placed on a mirror laid flat on a table. I tried various permutations of fingers and screws, but this one, which with the reflection of the opposing index finger and thumb combined with the actual digits, makes a sort of figure "8", is the one I preferred. It isn't the greatest shot I've ever created, but the "floating" screws add a slightly unusual dimension, I think, and cause the viewer to do a "double take".
photograph & text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm macro, (70mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
