Because I'm a Harry Potter fan, I have to mention (have to) the Harry Potter books use of the word "dark" to basically mean "not the good guys".The evil wizards are called "Dark wizards" that use "Dark magic". I never really thought about why anybody ever uses the word dark rather than evil when the Dark wizards are so clearly evil (but is it?). Sometimes dark is another word for misguided. Whenever a character is called 'dark', then the story pretty much has to explain how the character became that way. When a dark loner character comes into play, the reader is instantly interested in the dramatic history that obviously led to that characters current characteristics.
Seeing in the dark is not as easy as seeing in the light. People are generally more comfortable in the light because they know what is happening. I think the metaphors for light and dark work the same way as light or lack of light. When a photograph is dark, it is harder to see and the viewer questions what is in the darkness. With light, they are comforted because there are no surprises.
Today I was riding my bike on the sidewalk on campus. I always, or at least usually, ride my bike on the sidewalk. I do so because cars are big and scary and I don't trust them. Two people I know have gotten hit by cars while riding their bicycles in the past year (luckily both wear helmets and because of that are okay). I've ridden my bike around campus for years. I always have. It's come to my attention that apparently one isn't supposed to ride a bike on the sidewalk. It's not a law, as far as I can tell, but just a courtesy because pedestrians only like looking straight. I don't ride fast past people, I intentionally try not to alarm them if I feel like they don't hear my coming (the ones wearing headphones), and nobody ever glares at me or anything. I pass tons of other bicyclists and pedestrians and everyone seems fine. Today I was riding my bike past a set of parents on campus and the woman crossed to the other side of the sidewalk without looking. There had been plenty of room to pass, but not anymore and I squeezed the breaks and said, "oooo, watch out!"
"Bikes are for roads, not sidewalks," the man said.
I wasn't very far ahead, but I turned around and said, "I find cars scarier." I guess both of the things I said could be taken as giving attitude. I guess. I didn't intend it that way.
I was already away when I heard the guy yell, "So don't tell us to watch out!"
This is one of those situations where I can tell that no matter who I tell this story to (besides Zach Colman, opinion writer for the State News two years ago), they're going to disagree with me. Everybody I know walks and probably doesn't like bicyclists, or they're bicyclists who use the road. I'm alone. But cars go at least 25 mps if they're following the speed limit and pedestrians go 3 mps and I probably go around 10 mps (I looked up average speed, which is 13-15, and I ride really slow, not necessarily by choice, but because my bike is a piece of junk and sometimes the pedals just stop and I have to walk the rest of the way). If my speed were closer to that of a car, then heck yes, I would ride in the street, and I do sometimes when I want to go fast. But when I it's rainy or it's snowy or I'm carrying stuff then I don't really feel like going in the street with the cars that are probably not obeying the speed limit.
So I feel in the dark because I know no one will agree with me and I don't know why.
However, ten minutes after whizzing past the sincere and friendly parents, I saw a boy with a Gryffindor scarf and I told him I liked his scarf and he smiled really widely and thanked me and I felt super light! I smiled to myself and suddenly felt like I could ride my bike faster, which I did because there were no pedestrians ahead of me for at least a quarter of a mile. There were lots and lots of cars in the street, I might add.
To completely change the subject for prompt #8, the artist within the required reading that I find interesting is Henry Peach Robinson. I feel like we share many of the same interests in photography. We both like to create scenes that never actually happened. I like to do it in the form of posters and a "key art" type of feel. His were photographs of people, acting as if they were real. And example of one is title Bringing Home the May.
Bringing Home the May is comprised of nine negatives! I can tell there's someone not quite real-looking about it, but it's still an amazing image! The fact that he did this with negatives and no feather tool!
When the Days Work is Done is also an amazing image made up of five negatives, shot on different days.
People really despised the way he put together his images. They felt it was a lie and false. People felt that photography told the truth, and if it didn't, then it wasn't good photography. Robinson's images did not tell a direct truth, and thereful he lived through much criticism of his work. But I feel he was very talented.
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