We’ve all got something we consider priceless, that others might not see the value of. I think mine is an old pair of scissors that I borrowed from my best friend when we were twelve that I still have in my closet. The plastic handles are faded now, but the blades still cut really well. When I look at the scissors I can vividly recall those afternoons when we sat on the living room carpet cutting pieces of colorful construction paper, working on our latest craft projects.

That bout of nostalgia came to mind after reading Taking Things Seriously by Joshua Glenn and Carol Hayes. What started as a project where they enlisted family, friends and strangers to submit ”photos and essays about ordinary things instilled with extraordinary significance” (pg. 9) turned into the book: ”an old fashioned wonder cabinet: […] an assemblage of this, that and the other thing (pg. 18)”. The book is like a short story collection with lots of really nice pictures. I found myself always looking at the picture first, trying to guess what meaning lay behind say, the velveeta box or the crumpled pie tin, and then reading the adjacent essay to find the answer. When my eyes went to the photograph again, I saw something different, something meaningful. 

Taking Things Seriously is a process, an experience in looking and interpreting, reminding us to take a good look at all the ordinary things around and to realize that they are each far more just that.

September 17th, 2007