Posing for the Camera

People take pictures all the time, everywhere, these days and cameras are ubiquitous. I was watching these girls taking pictures of themselves in the plaza in front to the National Art Gallery today. They all crowded around the one girl holding the camera far enough away to get everyone in, and they posed together, leaning in, arms around each other. It was fun watching them, and so I had to take a picture!

It made me think of how people pose for pictures. Some people like posing - they are natural models. And some people do it under duress, it seems. This is a photo I took of my late husband Peter, on a beach in Prince Edward Island, about 17 years ago (I think). Peter was never fond of having his picture taken so he decided to ham it up and lifted this hank of seaweed in the air, just to make sure it would not be a "serious" picture.

Then there are people who love fooling around in front of a camera. This is my brother Paul in a park somewhere in Toronto, many, many years ago. He is a good photographer himself, and when someone else takes his picture, he often likes to mug for the camera.  

Sometimes there are props to encourage people to pose for the camera - like this cut-out frame where Peter and I posed with Sir John A. at a Canada Day festival (about 20 years ago maybe). 

This is definitely the pièce de résistance. It was taken in a park in British Columbia so many years ago, I don't want to remember. My sister Marilyn is on the right and I am on the left. The statue just made one want to pose beside it - so we did. How wonderfully silly!