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| "Wayfarer Traveler" |
Wayfarer Traveler literally means "One who travels by foot." In fact the title is a bit redundant, as the term wayfarer already includes the traveling part in its definition; Wayfarer Traveler just sounds nicer than Wayfarer by itself. But this photograph has a subject that has wings, so how does the title fit?
Like many great photographs this one came about spontaneously. I was out shooting and I found this little guy wayfaring around the dandelions. I expected that the wasp would fly away as soon as I got too close, but this was not the case. After rattling off a couple of shots I noticed that instead of flying from flower to flower the wasp would crawl all the way down the stem of the flower it was on, across the ground, and then up the stem of a new flower. It seemed like a lot of work for someone that had the ability of flight.
And then it tried to fly... and fell down. It would try again. Climb back up a flower, attempt flight, fall. Every time. Somehow I had come across the one wasp that, for whatever reason, lacked the ability to fly. The photograph above is the point right before where the wasp would try to fly again, only to fall. Poor little guy, but you have to admire his perseverance.
So ultimately the title refers to the fact that the subject couldn't fly and therefore had to walk to get around. That's all; no more, no less. Sometimes simplicity is best. The meaning(art) is in the spontaneity.
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Thank you for reading. Stay tuned for Part VII, find the previous here. Share this post!
James Elliott
