I chose to do my photo essay on the topic of "Nature Deficit Disorder", which I talked about briefly in my last share and voice. I wanted to base my photos off of what I have been reading about in Richard Louv's book The Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, which I also covered in my last share and voice.
It was hard to get stared for this post. First of all because I had so many different branches of the book that I wanted to cover, and secondly because I wasn't sure how to capture those ideas and teachings in photographs. Finally, I decided to just go, and see where my lens took me. The results are a little scattered, since I couldn't pick just one chapter, issue or idea to focus on - they were all too important and intriguing.
So, I took a walk around Lake Harriet with my mom on Thanksgiving morning. I had one photo in mind I knew I needed.
I believed in fairies and gnomes and magic already, and found them in my own adventures elsewhere as well. But this was extra special since I had proof!
My imagination's connection to nature was easy when I was little - and creativity has been shown to blossom when someone is in the outdoors.
It was easy for me to believe in the Gnome when I was little, because of the magic and nature that surrounded the experience.
My mom and I continued our walk; catching up, commenting on the houses, people watching...
Then my aunt called my mom's phone, and my boyfriend texted me which prompted me to check the score of the Packers game, and then this man ran by us:
Plugged in to his iPod, running around the lake in the beautiful 50 degree weather.
It reminded me of a clip from Louv's book:
"'It was a perfect, quiet day, the kids are skiing down the mountain - and they've got their headphones on. They can't enjoy just hearing nature and being out there alone. They can't make their own entertainment. They have to bring something with them.'"
I had to laugh. I'd just been ranting to my mom about what I'd been learning... yet here I was on my smart phone and talking to her and thinking about a billion different things I had to do later (most of which involved technology of some sort).
That night, I found myself in a conversation with my Gramma (who is in the photo above). I was telling her about the photos I'd taken, this assignment, and then about what I'd been learning in Louv's book. She told me some stories about how when she was a little girl (around 1930s):
Her and her sisters, along with the neighborhood kids, running down to Minnehaha creek and climbing around behind the waterfall... all day.
Cutting out the people in magazines and matching them to their hats - like a puzzle.
Going through the local library books A-Z.
Her childhood was so drastically different from mine, and even my mom's. We grew up in different times, but I still felt sad after listening to her. I felt sad because I wished I'd had that kind of freedom... I wish I had it now even.
Kids rarely go outside to play, when given the option. And even then, it isn't the kind of outdoor play my Gramma can describe to you.
"'We tell our kids that traditional forms of outdoor play are against the rules... Then we get on their backs when they sit in front of the TV - and then we tell them to go outside and play. But where? How? Join another organized sport? Some kids don't want to be organized all the time. They want to let their imagination's run..." (pg. 31)
Finally, I took this photo as we drove back up to Duluth. With the following quotes in mind, I tried to pay attention to the world passing by outside my window.
"'...it is not unusual to make a day trip, stopping only for coffee or a snack along the way. The entire experience occurs from the automobile looking out." (pg.52)
"But now even that visual connection is optional. A friend of mine was shopping for a new luxury car to celebrate her half century of life ... 'The salesman's jaw dropped when I said I didn't want a backseat television monitor for my daughter,' she told me."
"Why do so many Americans say they want their children to watch less TV, but continue to expand the opportunities for them to watch it? More important, why do so many people no longer consider the physical world worth watching?" (pg.62)
There is a very real issue today. Children and adults are suffering from this disorder. There are multiple reasons why we've dissolved our relationship with nature so quickly. And there are many real and dangerous symptoms because of this dissolve - evident in individuals, families, communities and our whole nation.
Her and her sisters, along with the neighborhood kids, running down to Minnehaha creek and climbing around behind the waterfall... all day.
Cutting out the people in magazines and matching them to their hats - like a puzzle.
Going through the local library books A-Z.
Her childhood was so drastically different from mine, and even my mom's. We grew up in different times, but I still felt sad after listening to her. I felt sad because I wished I'd had that kind of freedom... I wish I had it now even.
Kids rarely go outside to play, when given the option. And even then, it isn't the kind of outdoor play my Gramma can describe to you.
(I hope it counts that I took a picture of a picture...)
Above is my mom, aunt and a friend when they were little. Just entertaining themselves with the world around them.
"'We tell our kids that traditional forms of outdoor play are against the rules... Then we get on their backs when they sit in front of the TV - and then we tell them to go outside and play. But where? How? Join another organized sport? Some kids don't want to be organized all the time. They want to let their imagination's run..." (pg. 31)
"For the young, food is from Venus; farming is from Mars" (pg. 20)
I chose to photograph my Thanksgiving dinner to represent this clip from Louv's book. The quote is a header for a section, in which Louv interviews a farmer friend of his. The man talks about how he raised his children to know where their food came from. They saw the dead goats, and even killed some chickens. The majority of my generation, and the ones after me, don't see any of that. We can label what a cow and a sheep are from the time we start talking, but we don't make that connection when we are eating a burger, a turkey dinner, drinking a glass of milk, or even when we enjoy a big salad..
..Or are about to juice a bunch of veggies and fruits. I have a total disconnect from this pile of food. I couldn't tell you how to grow it, or where, or what is involved in getting it to my table.
Finally, I took this photo as we drove back up to Duluth. With the following quotes in mind, I tried to pay attention to the world passing by outside my window.
"'...it is not unusual to make a day trip, stopping only for coffee or a snack along the way. The entire experience occurs from the automobile looking out." (pg.52)
"But now even that visual connection is optional. A friend of mine was shopping for a new luxury car to celebrate her half century of life ... 'The salesman's jaw dropped when I said I didn't want a backseat television monitor for my daughter,' she told me."
"Why do so many Americans say they want their children to watch less TV, but continue to expand the opportunities for them to watch it? More important, why do so many people no longer consider the physical world worth watching?" (pg.62)
There is a very real issue today. Children and adults are suffering from this disorder. There are multiple reasons why we've dissolved our relationship with nature so quickly. And there are many real and dangerous symptoms because of this dissolve - evident in individuals, families, communities and our whole nation.
