Picture of the day - June 22, 2007

Two girls "swimming" in an aquarium

Photo courtesy of Peter Feldman. A single picture can tell a story, and sometimes that story can be a work of fiction - even though the image itself is real and has not been altered by the photographer in any way. A great example is today's picture of two young girls "swimming" in an aquarium. At first glance, it appears that the girls are swimming right along with the diver. Of course a closer look would reveal several clues that this is not the case (their dry hair and clothing, for example), but the fact of the matter is that many people - myself included - don't bother to look all that closely at photographs, trees, other people, or anything else they see during their busy days on planet earth. As anyone who has ever fallen victim to a scam artist can tell you, we tend to take things at face value, believing that what we see is indeed what we get - and sometimes we get "burned" as a result. Other times, like when we misjudge the distance between our car and the one in front of us and we hit them from behind, we suffer as a result of our own failure to pay attention to detail. Either way, we end up regretting not "digging" a little deeper for the truth. We often allow our minds to form a distorted sense of reality based upon what we "see" with our eyes and "hear" with our ears without taking the time to allow our brains to sort out the intricate incongruities of the "image". Sometimes, as with today's picture, incongruities in what we "see" do nothing more than supply a bit of welcome amusement on a boring day. But sometimes they can also ruin your day. About the photo: Photographer Peter Feldman submitted today's intriguing picture, and the following is his story behind the image: "Contrasts and incongruities have always been a photographic fascination of mine. This photo is an incongruity, taken at an aquarium. All I had to do with this photo was turn it sideways and it went from two girls outside the glass watching a diver feed the fish to two girls swimming in the tank right along with the diver." - Peter Feldman Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"