Skates & Ski Boots

I had gone into the garage late in the afternoon, and the light coming through the frosted window pane, cast a soft light that illuminated this grouping. The laces, the shelf bracket and it's shadow, formed a diamond shape composition that caught my attention. There was a strong visual tension in the composition that appealed to me, so I set up to photograph this grouping.

I had recently renovated my garage and in the process, I had got rid of hundreds of pounds of "junk". As I was setting up the image, I asked myself why I had not got rid of these objects. Two of the skates were my children's when they were young, so perhaps I had held on to them for sentimental reasons. The cross country ski shoes were mine and I had not skied for many years. By not getting rid of these, was I subconsciously telling myself that I was not really getting old and that I might probably still use them in the future?!

Why do humans so like to hold on to and collect things? Is this some evolutionary trait that we have inherited?

I do not have any answers, but I do like the picture and I hope you like it too.

[photo for week of 5 October 2009]

© David Butts, 2009