Did you like my piece, Dad?
My daughter Christina is learning to play piano. My son Pablo is also learning piano and violin. I really enjoy listening to them and slowly developing their skills. Recently I caught my son actually enjoying his practice, as the piece was pretty cool, some sort of blues theme. It gave me hope that all these scales and boring times in front of the piano will somehow translate into love for music. Not just the joy of listening to it, but the pleasure of performing or even creating it. When I was growing up I didn’t have any musical training, it was not available to me growing up in the 60s as a child in a working class family in Spain. But my father loved music and he would sit me down and asked me to listen to his LPs - still remember Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos. At the time I did it for him, because I loved him, but didn’t really enjoy it too much. But it’s funny how these early childhood experiences get imprinted into your memory and your personality… now I love music, and Rachmaninoff in particular.
Last night Christina was practicing his sonatina and I saw a picture of her from behind in front of the shiny black piano. I set up a grid to her left, and later another behind her. I shot the image I had seen in my mind, but I wasn’t pleased with the coldness of her back facing the camera. So I asked her to turn and she gave me this natural, loving, pretty expression. I love this little girl!
Did you enjoy my music, Dad?
Category: Photo Sessions