Photography and Text by Jasmin Smoots
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In Between Moments
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It’s incredible how our emotions can change minute to minute, second to second, moment to moment. In the blink of an eye, a smile shrinks becoming no more than a distant memory, the eyes lose the intensity they just held, and laughter is replaced by contemplative silence. The reverse is possible, too, just less common.
Those moments are difficult to seize; they aren’t meant to be seen. But when they are captured, the moments in between the moments, the transition moments, something beautiful rises to the surface. The transition between the moments tells the real story, especially in a sequence of photos. The break moments between each pose, the moments when you think no one is watching so you bite your lip or pick at your nails, let your mind wander to the thoughts worrying you, those moments.
In those moments, we catch a slight glimpse into the person: their thoughts, the feelings hidden behind their face. In those moments, vulnerability floats to the surface. It emerges through the eyes but the rest of the face enhances the story the eyes tell. These are the “off” moments. The moments when we aren’t “on,” the moments when our mind turns in on itself, forgetting about the outside world.
But, these are moments in between the moments, the moments not meant to be seen, the transitional moments that don’t seem to really exist. They don’t last very long and they don’t show up the photos we keep to remember the good moments. If you look down or look away, the in between moment will pass unseen as if it never existed.
Photography and Text by Jasmin Smoots. Copyright 2016
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About The Author: Jasmin Smoots is a senior Communications major enrolled in the College of the University of Pennsylvania. Class of 2016.
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