This week's challenge on the Daily post on wordpress.com asks us how we interpret and photograph "Everyday life." Here is my second take on that task.
While waiting for just the right person to photograph on the escalator from an underground Metro Station in Washington, D.C., I began noticing two types of people: Those who walked up and those who let the escalator do the work for them. I was tempted to make all kinds of assumptions: Athletic vs. lazy? Take-charge go-getters vs. compliant? Hurried vs. mellow? As usual, the truth is always much more complex than appearance reveals.
Well, I was there to try to get an interesting photograph, not study sociology, so I decided to draw my own conclusion and fit it into my philosophy: In our everyday life we can choose to go with the flow and do just what is necessary to achieve our goals, or we can take charge and attack our tasks going beyond what is required. Both approaches have their pros and cons, however, looking at my own life, I have never achieved anything by taking the path of least resistance and just riding along. This conclusion helped me to opt for the lone walker in composing the photograph above.
By the way, I almost always walk up the escalator...