Contemplation

Pondering objective/subjective issues today I thought I'd clarify the difference in my mind:

Objective: emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings, insertion of fictional matter, or interpretation.

Subjective:

1. of, affected by, or produced by the mind or a particular state of mind; of or resulting from the feelings or temperament of the subject, or person thinking; not objective; personal.
2. determined by and emphasizing the ideas, thoughts, feelings, etc. of the artist or writer, not just rigidly transcribing or reflecting reality.
3. (Philos.) of or having to do with the perception or conception of a thing by the mind as opposed to its reality independent of the mind.
4. (Med.) designating or of a symptom or condition perceptible only to the patient.
5. (Psychol.)
a. existing or originating within the observer's mind or sense organs and, hence, incapable of being checked externally or verified by other persons.
b. introspective.


This guy was sitting perfectly still on a bench at the edge of a steep hill overlooking some surprisingly attractive Northwest English countryside (and a motorway and power station). His hat was pulled down but he wasn't dead or asleep, just looking. He was still there 30 minutes later when I walked back.What did he see? Was it just an objective appraisal of the view, or was something more subjective going on? Perhaps he was just relaxing, mind cleared of all intrusive thoughts in a pleasant setting. Perhaps he was in turmoil, desperate, devastated over some unspeakable loss, unable to move, frozen by grief. How easy it is to misunderstand our fellow humans. We all make assumptions constantly; how else could we function in the world? As a photographer of sorts I'm aware of often imposing my own interpretation on what (I think) I see.

I've been using the Fractalius filter on and off recently, but not just to tart up a mediocre shot (honest), rather to convey better the feeling I had when I took it. I wonder if this is how that guy was feeling?