The Beauty’s in the Details
In Chicago’s Union Station I had a layover of almost 8 hours between trains — and absolutely nothing to do.
After sitting in the lounge for about an hour, I suddenly remembered that I was photographer and was lugging around my camera for a reason. I decided to go on a photo safari of Union Station and one of the first things I encountered was The Great Hall.
It really is Great; marble floors, marble pillars, ornate lamps, old world architecture — absolutely beautiful. I walked around snapping the typical tourist-type photos like I and everybody else have seen a million times before. Yawn! I really wasn’t happy with anything I was shooting — actually I was quite bored and disappointed with my work because it was the same old thing — nothing new.
The hall was virtually empty with only a few travelers sleeping against the walls or quickly passing through on their journeys to somewhere, nowhere, anywhere but here. I found a quiet spot next to an old lamp, sat with my back against the wall, and contemplated; my journey, my art, and the Great Hall with its vast space that commuters take for granted and barely glance at as they migrate through.
The vast space, the vast space that tourist take the same mundane photos of, the vast space…
I took a deep breath, leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and while trying to drift off to sleep I thought… How can I show the real beauty of this magnificent space? A short while later I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the detailed carving at the base of the antique lamp I was sitting next to.
Detail.
This vast space is made up of beautiful, tiny, detail… It’s all in the details.
I looked around and for the first time I really saw the Great Hall. My view had changed and I found my answer. The way to capture and present the elegance of this beautiful place is through its finely-crafted detail.
Lon Casler Bixby is a professional photographer and published author in various genres: Fiction, Poetry, Humor, Photography, & Comic Books.
You can see some of his photography here — www.whileyouweresleeping.photography/ and here — www.neoichi.com/.
See his writing here — www.amazon.com/author/loncaslerbixby/.
