• ABOUT US
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Advertising
    • Subscription
  • CONTACT US
Georgia Today
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
No Result
View All Result
Georgia Today
No Result
View All Result

Just Look Around

by Georgia Today
November 28, 2024
in Culture, Newspaper
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Photos by the author

Photos by the author

My wife and I recently returned from Svaneti to Tbilisi for the winter, the third time we’ve done this, to get a break from difficult electrical and hydrological conditions and to see everyone we’ve been missing in this end of the country. I’ll always miss Svaneti’s beauty, no less in winter, which is now in full swing there, but here we are.

We’re in a new apartment to boot, which gives me the opportunity to notice what is different here from the last place we lived in. Here, we are on the 8th floor instead of the 2nd, and there’s a much larger landscape in view right from the windows. I have challenged myself to find new things to photograph here too, inside and outside both. But this has been playfully automatic, not some rigid homework assignment I agree to.

Photos by the author
Photos by the author

A nice mix of city and nature presents itself. We’re not far from the Mtkvari River, with trees still flaunting autumn colors everywhere, as well as high-rises poking through and new ones being built. Sunrise does light up several of these with its glow; and the progress of the sun in its winter-low path also changes photographic conditions hour by hour. Fog never hurts, adding mystery when it appears. Magpies are the only birds I’ve tried to photograph here, with a long lens, but others might appear too.


So, yes, there’s plenty of beauty and contrast to notice in this big city. Pick a random location; even start right where you live, as I do. Changes of weather and season will give you new things to discover each day, and maybe more frequently than that.

Don’t have time for such frivolities? Ah, I mourn for your busyness. This is part of recharging our batteries, slowing down and making new discoveries.

I also look occasionally for images in my coffee grounds, either in the bottom of my mug or (when I’ve made and transferred a few days’ worth of cold brew) in the enamel teapot. Now, I’m not scrying for a fortune to tell itself; just scouting for exotica, things looking like other things. Which frequently turn up. Sometimes they scare me. That’s OK.

Photos by the author
Photos by the author

There are countless experiments to try, breaking the rules, using a phone camera instead of the big digital one, playing with all the settings of focus and exposure and shutter speed and aperture. And, set free from the “tyranny” of up to only 38 frames on a roll of 35mm film (remember that? I surely do, from 1978 up until mid-2008), bounded only by the storage space on one’s memory card, who cares if it takes dozens of tries to get something right?

Discard the failures, learn, count your blessings in the successes. Play, and enjoy. Photograph your family members. Turn color into black and white. Shoot at night, or in rain or snowfall. Let something be out of focus, or try to get motion blur. Under- or overexpose. Notice light reflecting off glass or plastic; shoot through a drinking glass or in a mirror. Shoot something upside down. See how many possibilities there are? Aside from the boring and narcissistic mirror selfie?

Photos by the author
Photos by the author

Why bother? Again, to slow down as a benefit in itself. To get your focus away from that problem you can’t solve by thinking directly about it. Maybe the answer will come while you’re playing instead of working too single-mindedly. History is littered with examples of such solutions coming only when unasked for.

And… just to have fun, when mostly what the world right now seems to be offering is existential stress on many scales. Thumb your nose at it: not to deny its existence, but not to let it bring you down and win.

BLOG by Tony Hanmer

Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

Tags: PhotographyTony Hanmer
ShareShareTweet

Related Posts

Firefighters extinguish cars hit by a Russian military strike, in Sumy, Ukraine June 3. Source: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/REUTERS
Newspaper

Ukraine Latest: Zelensky Calls for Sanctions after ‘Savage’ Russian Attack on Sumy Kills Four

June 5, 2025
Argentina House, functioning in Georgia, and the House of Georgia, operating in Argentina, headed respectively by Nikoloz Makharadze-Patarklishvili and Diego Roberto Manavella. Source: FB
Business & Economy

The Mutual Houses in Argentina and Sakartvelo

June 5, 2025
Image source: trellis
Business & Economy

Spheres of Influence, Boundaries, Territories: ‘Remembering the Well Forgotten.’ Part 2

June 5, 2025

Recommended

Putin, Xi, and allied leaders mark Russia’s Victory Day at Moscow parade

Putin, Xi, and allied leaders mark Russia’s Victory Day at Moscow parade

1 month ago
Experience Seamless Connectivity with Silknet eSIM in Georgia

Experience Seamless Connectivity with Silknet eSIM in Georgia

12 months ago
Champion Karateka Luka Khvedeliani on the Benefits of Georgian Karate for Georgia’s Youth

Georgia to Celebrate First Europe Day with European Union Candidate Status

1 year ago
Georgian Foreign Minister Holds Farewell Meeting with French Ambassador to Georgia

Georgian Foreign Minister Holds Farewell Meeting with French Ambassador to Georgia

3 years ago
Natia Mezvrishvili on Dealing with 2 Political Giants

Natia Mezvrishvili on Dealing with 2 Political Giants

3 years ago
Giorgi Gakharia: We were Told We Were Capable of Nothing – It’s All a Lie and Ukraine is a Great Example of This

Giorgi Gakharia: We were Told We Were Capable of Nothing – It’s All a Lie and Ukraine is a Great Example of This

3 years ago
GT Interview with Giorgi Badridze

GT Interview with Giorgi Badridze

3 years ago
Russo-Ukrainian War and Georgia – Analysis from security expert Kakha Kemoklidze

Russo-Ukrainian War and Georgia – Analysis from security expert Kakha Kemoklidze

3 years ago

Navigation

  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • International
  • Where.ge
  • Newspaper
  • Magazine
  • GEO
  • OP-ED
  • About Us
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Advertising
    • Subscription
  • Contact

Highlights

Wife: Detained activist Temur Katamadze transferred to Turkey

Merab Dvalishvili holds onto UFC title with win over O’Malley

Russian intelligence: UK intensifying efforts to oust Georgian government

US Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan announces retirement after 33 years of diplomatic service

Kobakhidze Hails China as a Model of Peace and Progress

MFA shuts down NATO & EU info centre amid restructuring

Trending

Experience Seamless Connectivity with Silknet eSIM in Georgia
Business & Economy

Experience Seamless Connectivity with Silknet eSIM in Georgia

by Georgia Today
June 26, 2024

Why Silknet's eSIM could be your top choice in Georgia  Since its introduction, eSIM technology has become...

Photo by the author

Virtuosity and Versatility: Marc-André Hamelin Opens Tbilisi Piano Festival 2024

May 30, 2024
  • Where.ge
  • Newspaper
  • GEO
  • Magazine
  • Old Website

2000-2024 © Georgia Today

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • International
  • Where.ge
  • Newspaper
  • Magazine
  • GEO
  • OP-ED
  • About Us
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Advertising
    • Subscription
  • Contact

2000-2024 © Georgia Today