But there was nothing at all

“But there was nothing at all” – Referential by Lorrie Moore

24 thoughts on “But there was nothing at all

    1. Thank you very much! Really – I wanted to take a photo of the dog and so I went down on my knees because I wondered how everything would look like in the dog’s perspective. And then everybody’s head moved …

    1. Thank you very much! For visiting as well as commenting :-). Sometimes it’s these accidents that make it: everything is in place – one simply has to release the shutter.

    1. I did indeed. Not many things are better in life than have some fishin’ time ;-) And you know what? I’ll be going again in five days, yay!

      Yes, the boy is having fun while the grownups were a little bit grumpy.

  1. Perhaps there was nothing there, but what ever it was caught the attention of everyone, even the dog. The woman in the background looks like she is taking a photo of it. I was reminded of a famous photo of a woman walking a similar dog on a Paris street using the same low angle. Was it shot by Aget? Not sure, have to look it up. Your photo is wonderful.

    1. Thank you :-)!

      Rarely I take people’s photographs since I really am shy about this – most of the times I would feel like an intruder I guess. But since there was the dog … and his/her owners nearby … incidentally … ;-)

      1. I looked, but can’t locate the photo I was thinking about. Don’t think it was Eugene Atget, but another photographer. Oh well. Still your image is stunning, especially with every subject looking to their right. The one on your other blog is good, but lacks the tension created by their glance in the same direction. Perhaps the scooter backfired? Doesn’t matter why they looked in that direction, it just makes this a wonderful photo combined with your low angle.

        1. *g* – that’s why it is on the other blog ;-) – the other photo.

          Somehow I think I know what photo you are talking about but I really can’t point my finger at it – let’s go on a google image search …

          1. Elliot Erwitt is a wonderful photographer. Have always loved his work, but I think the image I was thinking about was shot in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Wow a mind is a terrible thing to loose. Memory? What memory?

          2. After looking at hundreds (literally) of b/w photos of women walking
            dogs in Paris the last two evenings I am under the impression I never knew “this exact photo we are talking about” but only knew the idea of a photo of a woman walking a dog in Paris.

            Memory? What memory?

  2. As a complete segue, did you know that a dog is the only animal that I have heard of that will respond to a human pointing by looking in that direction. I used to help my father train a labrador retriever for field trials. We would hide a boat bumper in heavy brush and then let the dog out. My father would point and the dog would go into the brush. Then my father would whistle and point to get him going in the right direction. It was fun to watch. From what I have read monkeys and apes do not respond to a pointed finger. I bet crows would but I wouldn’t bet on a chicken:-))

    1. That is similar to the shot I remember, but not quite the one. Did I just make it up? At this point I’m not sure. I’ve looked through hundreds of photos of women walking dogs in Paris, but haven’t seen it. Must not be as famous as I thought. I seem to remember that the women was a high class courtesan, and it was taken around 1900.

      1. In the end Van Gogh was the first one1886 with “Woman walking her dog (A la Villette)” … ;-)

        Let’s see… some day one of us will see the photo by chance and might remember this thread …

    2. Is it only me or is this a creepy photo? It’s not only dogs as accessories but dead animals as well. I have looked at this photo several times in the last days and the woman always appears to me as a huge evil ghost… might be the blurry cars in the background, the super sharpness of the woman’s clothes (eh, furs) with her so prominent in the foreground seen from below. The lively agile almost white bulls vs. the dead dark foxes or whatever Menacing.

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