A picture with your eyes

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Jul 23, 2023

To my friend,

It had just rained. I was a few feet away from my driveway watching a perfect picture. A low cloud hung in the tree line. The pasture was muted green - the pond slate blue. I knew that if I attempted to speed into my driveway and find my phone too much time would elapse and the moment would be gone. So I instead took in all the visual sensory with my paper viewfinder and let it be a picture with my eyes.

For days now, I keep seeing that scene. It smelled of late evening dew - the one just before sunset. It was hot and humid. So very humid. The cloud was fog-like. Slowing drifting, making its way out from being nestled. The pond seemed calm, though I could hear it buzzing with summer life. Visualizing it makes me feel like I can travel in my mind. Finding so many places.

This happens a lot. Sometimes I see fleeting moments and I have to make the judgment call whether to capture it with my camera or let it be a moment with my eyes. Quickly developing technology has made it ever more tempting to archive every picture. Yet, I also feel scenes encouraging me to look and slowly observe it through my paper viewfinder.

A paper viewfinder is a simple tool. It has a square or rectangle cut from the center so you can void visual sensory and hone in on specific details. I used them often in high school - a budding artist interested in finding compositions in the world around me. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to find meaning in the paper viewfinder both literally and metaphorically.

In a literal way, I’m able to use it as a training tool. I can play around with different compositions, learning the fine relations between objects. I can use it to take pictures which I file away in my memory.

Metaphorically, it’s encouraged me to let go of attention. To make voids. To find myself bored and wholeheartedly present. In a lot of ways, it’s helped me see the world again. The paper viewfinder encouraged me to feel complete and utter content - dare I say fulfillment.

Enclosed with this letter you’ll find your very own paper viewfinder. I photocopied mine (which also has a value finder) and placed it in a zine. The zine is mostly blank, leaving room for you to document, in any way you wish, what you capture with your paper viewfinder. Print it, cut it, and carry it with you. Collect your moments. And find pictures for your eyes.