We all know about and see evidence of personality traits being passed along to family members. But I've just experienced something that has brought to question, in my mind; just how detailed or specific can these genetic traits be?
My "how bizarre" moment came when my niece Carla and I spent an hour or two together (I don't recall how long it was because time flies by when your enthralled in an activity you love). We each grabbed a camera and wandered through my friend Al's old abandoned heritage house that has started to fall down. This house was apparently abandoned in the 70's when a family just packed up the things they loved to take to their new home and left the rest behind. Since then, people have been there taking a few things out and just leaving whatever wherever. This house is old, full, and I mean FULL of old stuff and falling apart.
Carla and I each went in different directions through the various rooms on the main floor and upstairs. Although we were doing this together we really weren't because we'd be in different rooms and barely spoke at all. Other artists I'm sure can relate and understand that when you're working you can become absorbed in your own world and forget about and tune out everything else around you.
Carla and I come from a family of artistically talented people, especially it seems on the female side. My mother, my sister and I as well as all 4 of my nieces and my daughter are all artistic. Some even earn their living from their talents.
After our just for fun photo shoot, I took my cameras back home and downloaded my pictures and reviewed them. As always I found some weren't great, some good and some I loved. Then I downloaded Carla's so I could transfer them onto a disc for her. I could not believe what I saw. At first, I saw one picture she took that was the same subject matter as one I took, then there was another, and another and another, you get the point.
How bizarre. I had to go back to my pictures and look again. I was blown away! How could two people in a house FULL of a million things or more ( don't think that's an exaggeration) to take pictures of find something interesting and artistic in so many of the same things, in such a short time?
Below, I have a couple pictures of the house just to give you an idea of the enormous amount of items we could have picked to take pictures of. I have also provided some examples of our similar shots. Carla's are on the right, and mine are on the left (or depending on your resolution Maritta's first and Carla's second).
Bizarre isn't it?
Now I could see that if we spent 1/2 a day or a day there, we would eventually have had an overlap of things to take pictures of, however as I mentioned, we were only there for an hour or two. And in fact 1/2 of that time Carla took pictures of a barn while I took some fruit photos. And from the examples above what are the odds that over 2 floors of an entire house we would both take a picture of the same piece of string? Or how is it that both of us think that a boot laying beside a table let would make a good picture, and from the same angle to boot (no pun intended)? Or... or...or...
I couldn't help but wonder if we saw beauty in the same weird things because of our family genetics partly at play? Would two strangers have had the same results? I guess that unless I come across studies that have been done looking into this I will never know. But for now, I personally can't help but believe that family connections go deeper than we often realize.
Carla, thanks for a fun afternoon, and for contributing to my "How Bizarre" moment.
Signing off for now.
Maritta Renz
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