The extraordinary in the everyday

As a photographer, every day I am asked to see things in new ways. This, for example, is a picture of a bridge. And not only is it a picture of a bridge, it's an image of the river it spans.

I always enjoy it when I'm working and a passerby asks: "What are you taking pictures of?" It's especially fun when I'm taking pictures of something like these dancing reflections of bridge cables, constantly transforming themselves in the undulating waters of the Charles River in Boston.

Just the other day, I was snapping some frames of the control panel in an elevator. A young woman joined me in the car. Her expression became quizzical when, as the elevator arrived at the ground floor, I did not exit. Now I was ascending with her. I wanted to take a few more images of the panel.

She asked, in accented English, "Why take a picture of this?"

"I think it's artistic if you look just at this small area," I replied, pointing out the geometric shapes.

Pause. "I don't understand art."

But maybe - just maybe - the next time she's in an elevator, it will look a little different to her.