Small Wonders Can Happen

Like something you never expected to be possible...

One lovely morning on the patio of our summer home near Stockholm, I had tuned in P2, our national Classical station. At one point an Ave Maria was played, which I found fascinating. While listening, I could not help having images of wide open, tranquil landscapes sail through my mind, despite the obvious religious character of the song.

I wasn't able to catch any info about the music right off the air, so I googled and wikied. The composer is Vladimir Vavilov, born 1925 in St. Petersburg. He seems to have thrived on writing music reminiscent of time periods past. And: ascribing authorship to composers having lived during those times! Odd, but apparently a known phenomenon in the musical world.

And the wonder? The VOICE! As incredible as it may sound, the soprano Jackie Evancho is barely fifteen (15) years old!

Check her on Youtube, she has been in the limelight from age 10, and it is almost spooky to see and hear that little child with the mighty voice. A live performance of Vavilov's Ave Maria in a Philadelphia park you find there as well.

Recently I had some really good times in nature with my cameras. But I also feel a great sadness since a person who means a lot to me is not well. A person possessing a marvellous photographic "eye", keen to take pictures of landscapes, nature, daily life.

For me the Ave Maria induces elation, while addressing sorrow at the same time, tying both into a sense of consolation. And this consolation for me is not a religious sentiment. It is as tentative and fragile as anything down-to-earth always is. And as far as the theme of Mary is concerned, I think of all the non-virgin Marys who worked at home and on the job, often raising children with great dedication and effort, inspiring their vicinity without trying or even being aware of it. And as you might guess, I have my reasons to think along this particular line, at this time.
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Jackie Evancho

A note on the photographs: I vividly remember some of the settings as almost unearthly experiences. Reality and photographic images are always two different worlds, but with these images I wanted to stay as close to the original scenes as possible. About a third of the pictures are straight from the camera. On the others only slight adjustments in light and contrast were made in the processing stages. I avoided all forms of intensification of colors. When these occurred as a side effect of light/contras adjustment, I dampened the colors a tiny amount.



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