Not every picture you take has to have meaning deeper than the paper it’s printed on. But if you’re board with taking images that lay there like a dead fish, try spicing it up with some symbolic tartar sauce.

Symbolism. Dictionary.com defines it as the practice of representing things by symbols, or of investing things with a symbolic meaning or character. I define it as a tool for making an otherwise forgettable photograph a less harder to not remember one.

I made the image at left titled Fall while I was walking around enjoying the park near my house. I didn’t set out thinking I would create an image that would rattle the Earth’s mantle, make grown men weep, and make children question the existence of god. And I certainly didn’t.

But when I noticed the way the setting sun was hitting the tree I thought it would make a cool looking picture. But before I snapped away I thought to myself, “Does the world really need another cool picture?” “Nope,” said the homeless guy eating a pidgin, standing in a trashcan with a patch over one eye and holding a red polka dot umbrella that was engulfed in flames over his head.

But I wanted to take a photograph because I like to take photographs. I could have just looked around for something that would be better that was already set up, waiting for me to–

“Do you have any ketchup packets or a fire extinguisher?” asked the homeless guy with a mouth full of feathers.” This guy was really distracting me from this well lit tree and the problem I was having of trying to take an image that would have at least some impact or create some story for the viewer.

I was loosing the light and to be honest, the smell of burning umbrella was starting to make me quease-out. I had to think fast, did I have anything symbolic in my camera bag? “Nope,” said the half eaten pidgen. “Will you two butt out!”

Ah-ha! I had 5 one dollar bills in my wallet. Money has all sorts of symbolism to it. It represents freedom and repression at the same time. The dollar bill means USA, capitalism, etc. I could just throw down some cash and let other people guess what it means. Perfect! So I stuck one on the tree and placed a few on the ground. I put one right up in front of the lens and hit that with some off camera strobe action to pull the viewers eye and presto, art. Well, a close proximity anyway. Most importantly I was able to put my camera away before the homeless guy transformed into a giant pickle balloon and attacked the nude sunbathers practicing for a Rubic’s cube contest.

The next time you’re heading out for a photo excursion bring along some props that are boiling over with symbolism and see what you can cook up. Post a link to the image in the comments below. We’d love to see what you come up with.

PS: If any part of this post doesn’t make sense, try looking for the symbolism.

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