Thursday, October 16, 2008

Photostory Friday: Hands

PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek


Browsing through my picture files the other day, I was struck by something I had not noticed before: I take a lot of pictures of hands. It has never been a conscious decision, on my part, to amass a collection of hand photos. Images are a very powerful thing to me and, left to my own devices, I usually take the shot that is most compelling to me, at that instant. It surprises me how often that is a picture of someone's hands.

The story of our lives is written upon our hands, as it is written in our faces. The scars and the callouses and the rings, tell the tales of who we are, and what we've done, the obstacles we've overcome, and the commitments we've made. Even the trembling, in my own hands -- which, to a photographer, can be maddening -- is a heritage of the family that I love. 

With our hands, we learn about our world. With our hands, we connect to one another. We embrace and we push away. We caress and we strike. We adorn our fingers with the symbols of our greatest covenants and promises.

Here are the stories that I see, in some of these pictures of hands. Many are related to weddings -- maybe the most prominent day for hands, in our lives.


A very old door, and a very new bride. That is symbolic of marriage to me -- such an ancient institution, but new to each couple.


A mother and her son -- a beautiful boy, with Downs Syndrome. Notice the stubby little fingers. Jackson has had a rough time in his short life, but he is loved by his family.



Emma, exploring at Sea World. I didn't think she would go near the star fish, but she was as amazed by it, as I am, continuously, by her.




A boy, who worships his mother. Don't they all?




A father dancing with his daughter, on her wedding day. He almost didn't live to see that day.



CTR stands for Choose The Right. I pray, every day, that they will.




A bride, waiting patiently and pensively, while the photographers finish up with the other family members. Do you remember what you were thinking about, on that day?




My own wedding ring. It can no longer be removed from my finger (not without some serious damage to either the ring, or to my finger). I'm okay with that.





Holding hands, two becoming one. The most intimate and universal form of affection.


So, there you have it.
After this little odyssey, I may never look at hands the same way again.

45 comments:

Hannah said...

Beautiful beautiful pictures Chris!!! Very touching =)

That girl

Honey Mommy said...

Lovely photos!

Little baby hands are my favorite. They are so precious!

We try to CTR around our house too. :o)

Wendy said...

I love a theme and you created this story beautifully! I like that hands can shut out or embrace..nonverbal body language is 65% of communication!

Mandy said...

Beautiful.

Mom24 said...

That is so beautiful. I'm going to take pictures of my children's hands tomorrow. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Lovely

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Oh I couldn't agree more. Hands are amazing, intricate items to photograph - yours were amazing Chris.

Bren said...

Your photography is incredible! I especially love the boy looking up to his mother and the father/daughter dance.

Anonymous said...

nor may I.

All gorgeous pictures. I've never really thought about hands that way. I find this a theme when I visit though. I always find a new way to view something.

Robyn said...

Those were beautiful. There is something about hands. They were the one thing that I knew for sure were mine when I saw my daughter's.

Carissa(GoodnCrazy) said...

I love this series. and I'm so glad you stopped by my blog...! Thanks!

If you would like to have your comments connected to your email address so people (me) can respond to your comments you can see my tutorial on the left sidebar called:

Dear No-Reply blogger...

enjoy!

Kristen said...

Very beautiful pictures!

The stories that go with the pictures make them priceless!

Thank you so much for sharing such a beautiful post for PSF!

I will be back to read again!

Brandy said...

Absolutely beautiful! I love pictures of hands to me they tell the story.

Laura said...

Beautiful pics!! So, so true! SO much beauty in the hands... I am fluent in sign language and a bit partial to hands myself! ;)

tiarastantrums said...

beautiful - poetic - this could be a coffee table book!
love the ring - we have bracelets for the children WWJD!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

What stories these hands have to tell! I really like hand pictures too. Thanks for sharing these wonderful stories with us and your photos are beautiful.

KeiserKids said...

Thanks for stopping by and reading mine. Thats a handy bit of advice.

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

You never cease to amaze me!!!! I mean honestly, your photos are as intriguing as your words. You have such a beautiful style with your lens.

All of those photos are more than wonderful, but my favorite is most likely the first. The shading, the difference in texture, and the way you wrote about it make me want to frame it and hang it!

FABULOUS PSF!! As always!

Please VISIT My PSF. Thanks!

Cecily R said...

Chris, you've outdone yourself on these. Each and every one is beautiful and I love the stories behind them all.

Is it weird that I tend to take a lot of feet pictures?

Weeksie50 said...

I love the pictures and the little explanation of each.. beautiful..

Alex @ I'm the Mom said...

Absolutely stunning. You are such a talented individual.

Deb said...

beautiful photos and beautiful stories accompanying them.

Susan said...

Beautifully told and shown as usual!!!

I agree that hands can tell some amazing stories.

Pam Emmons said...

Very cool, Chris. I actually gave a talk in church once about the power of hands, and talked about all the things you did. Nice job.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and amazing shots! I've always loved hands (and feet!) photos. They are just so telling, so honest, so real!

Kacey said...

This was an amazing post and gorgeous pictures. Each picture was my favorite! You have a great gift of capturing the emotion in a moment.

Steph said...

Beautiful! I have always loved hand pictures. I love all of yours.

Momisodes said...

What a gorgeous array of hand photos. I love the sentiment behind each photo, and your words bring out so much more. Brilliant.

CC said...

Incredible! I don't think I've ever taken pictures of hands. Now I must try.

stefanie said...

Stunning. Has that been used yet? Loved the variety.

Jaysi said...

That is so touching! I love the way you see it! Thank you for such a moving post!

Unknown said...

What lovely shots and stories of lives behind the hands! I enjoyed them all! And my own wedding ring cannot come off and I too am ok with that. :)

Kris said...

What wonderful pictures.

Isn't it funny how simple things tell such an amazing story.

Kellan said...

These are all such beautiful photos, Chris! My daughter, Chloe, is in AP Art this year and her concentration that she chose is hands - it's cool!

Loved this beautiful post - thanks - Kellan

that girl said...

beautiful hand photos...I took a photo of my grandma's hand a few years ago. to me, the most beautiful hand there was. she recently passed away, a month ago. before she passed, I took a photo of her hand. as one of my friends and fellow bloggers wrote, the story those hands can tell. your words spoke eloquently of the hands that touch our lives every day.

Melissa said...

Great pictures....I do believe hands say alot about a person!!!

BTW- I love "Ghost Hunters" too

Kmommy said...

Wonderful! Hands are so important and fascinating.
I love the picture from Sea World! Brave girl!!

tommie said...

those are amazing pics...I am a hands person as well. You did these justice!

Straight to Your Hart said...

What beautiful pictures!! Our hands do so much..how grateful I am for them...

Lindsay said...

Wow, I never thought of hands in that way. Thanks for a new perspective. And the pictures are beautiful, again.

Natalie said...

Absolutely beautiful..
I love pictures of hands. At my wedding, we even read the Hand Blessing.

Rose said...

wow, what a wonderful collection of photos. I love hands too, and you have so many to chose from!

Wonderful.

Working Mum said...

Very touching pictures. My dad used to take lots of pictures of my hands when I was a little (he was a keen amateur photographer) so maybe it's a daddy thing?

Rachael Schirano \\ Rachael Schirano Photography said...

beautiful, just beautiful!

Casey's trio said...

What a beautiful post. Hands truly have so much power in this world.