Prolixus Luminis

The notion of a picture speaking a thousand words is not novel. Nor is the idea of posting photography on the Internet. But what I hope to accomplish in this new weekly column is an opportunity to share the art of photography with the Advocate.com audience ... people, places, things, adventures, perspectives.

I am by no means an expert or a professional photographer. I’m a dabbling amateur with a love of art and photography in particular, who just so happened to be offered this little platform to share his love of photography with the Advocate.com audience. What you’ll find every week in this new column is a favorite shot of mine, and soon we’ll incorporate a favorite from submitted entries from you, the online reader.

One of my tattoos is the Latin phrase “Prolixus Luminis,” which means “wide-eyed.” A secondary (and more literal) translation refers to the opened aperture of eye or lens. This just happens to be the column’s name, and this is the goal of these posts; to expand your vision of the world you live in. Try snapping an iPhone pic later today of something that catches your eye. Or grab that digital camera from the top drawer and take it with you on your random Sunday-funday. You’ll surprise yourself.

I love portrait work. I love the idea of capturing something in the blink of an eye that might only exist for that one suspended moment in time. A look. A gesture. In this case, my very brave friend allowed me to splatter him in paint for a little series I did with him. The rest of the series is a little more serious than this one. The little purple flower was a random last-minute addition that somehow switched the tone of the image entirely, to something rather comedic and cartoonish. His expressive eyes certainly helped here. This was shot in natural light, which really helped enhance the colors of the paint.

- Advocate.com will be featuring a new photo from Andrew Oldershaw every Friday. Check back next week.