Shutter Sisters

a story of hands

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I find hands fascinating.  They are as diverse as the people they are attached to.  Large, small, strong, graceful, flexible, young, old, soft, or weathered.  I feel they hold stories all their own.  What have they held?  What have they made?  What work have they done?  We use our hands every moment of every day, most times not paying much attention.  We eat ~ touch ~ create ~ speak ~ love with our hands.   The same pair of hands can be fiercely strong one moment and then gentle the next.  We clap them in celebration.  We use them to make music.  We cup them to catch tears.  We grasp them in solidarity.  We offer them in greeting.  

 The other evening my husband was working with some bread dough.  I was drawn to the rhythm of his hands.  Like a dance they moved together then apart, never hesitating.  I especially liked this shot above.  One hand steady and still as the other moved wildly alone.  Those hands creating bread for us to eat.  Those hands that have held mine for many years now.  Those hands that once cradled our babies.  Those hands have many stories, some of which i know and are a part of, and some that will forever remain a mystery to me.   I like those hands.  

Today, share a story of someone’s hands you know.

Comments

  6. I so love your story & image. Hands are a subject I, too, am drawn to, in photos & in artwork. The image attached is a "painting" of a neighborhood full of hands – those of us who drew close as our 90-something neighbor moved closer to death and soon was gone; a woman we all loved dearly. The glue that held us together, young, old, black, white, conservative, liberal. Differences to embrace, to laugh about. It is a painting of handprints, done for me, never to be sold, mine. A memory of the fall of 2008.

    http://emmatree.blogspot.com/2009/08/and-we-are-all-together.html

  10. thanks xanthe, yes i try whenever i can to pick a shot that coincides with my post.
    XO!

  14. thanks for this beautiful post
    this is one project my daughter and I talked about at Christmas. Hands are very interesting (however i don’t like photos of my own hands – ha). My dad was a surgeon, is a carpenter, bread maker, blacksmith, etc – there are all types of great shots waiting to be taken of his hands. My mom is a painter, quilter, doll maker, etc – again lots of opportunities for hand portraits. The photos haven’t been been taken in a professional manner yet – a good thing to focus of this year. thanks

  15. I can remember both of my grandmothers hands. Both completely different, one always with long nails, the other with cropped, neat nails, their palms cupping my chin or knitting or making tea. I didn’t realize how much I looked at hands until I noticed how many pictures I take of my daughter’s.

    Here’s one. Someday, I’ll have to upload all the photos of her hands I’ve taken since she was a baby.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/7687752@N03/4224834610/

  19. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37719283@N04/3865583043/ i ♥ their hands. each callous and vein, each spot and wrinkle. oh the stories they could tell. their life is in their hands. i’m so thankful to be a part of them.
    i’m painting this shot for them right now. it was supposed to be for christmas, but i’m slow. it’ll probably be for valentine’s. 😉
    lovely post. thanks for sharing.
    xo,
    mary

  29. I took this photo in 2007 and it’s always been a favorite of mine.

    My nephew and his grandpa (my step-dad).

    My step-dad never had children of his own and came into my life when I was 13 (awful teenager as far as he was concerned). But now we are close and have a wonderful relationship…although it took us years to get here. So the bond he has with my nephew, the instant connection between the two of them from the day my nephew was born, is so very awesome to witness.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/marang/1661698789/in/set-72157594163585722/

  30. Hands are such a powerful subject. Exactly one year ago I made some specific attempts to capture a series of shots of my mother’s hands, because she is such an inspiration to me and I wanted to show all the giving and creative things she does. This image is one of my favorites and does not show her holding some doll booties she knit but rather, very small booties for premature infants who are born before the parents have prepared. Some manage to leave the ICU healthy and some are buried in the clothes she prepares.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjb_phodographer/4274679612/

  31. There is a secret picture I keep tucked away in the back of a scrapbook and hidden in an envelope. It’s a picture of my grandmother’s hands I took at her funeral. We had only become closer towards the end of her life and I never got to photograph her doing the things she loved like sewing, knitting, weaving and handspinning yarn. I do remember the feel of her hands on mine, though – cool, strong and a bit withered with age. I can still picture her fingers delicately moving threads or wrapping warps when she taught me how to weave.

    I’m glad my family didn’t mind when I took the picture of her in the casket and did another close up on her hands. I keep it tucked away because I’m not sure if people would think it was . . . weird. But I take it out and look at it now and again when I want to remember her.

  32. I took this shot at my cousin’s wedding over the weekend. I suppose it’s not a ‘traditional’ wedding shot, as I’ve had a couple of people think it was an ‘outtake’ 😉 There’s something about this precise moment that’s so beautiful…the beginning of a new life together…so much potential. Although their appearances will change over the many years ahead, I hope they will always be hand in hand like this…

    http://photophoenix.aminus3.com/image/2010-01-11.html

  33. Love that shot! Have to share this one of my cousin’s hand with her (then) new engagement ring this past summer:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudem/3803036182/in/set-72157600090183928/

    It’s such a great moment, because she and her fiancee have been together for a long time now, but she’s finally ready to tie the knot – her parent’s divorce back when we were teenagers really scarred her. I’m so proud that she’s taking this next step and happy that she’s so happy! And it doesn’t hurt to know he’s a great guy that the whole family loves. 🙂

  46. I’ve heard that human hands are the hardest part of the body to paint.
    Recently I discovered that photographing your own hand isn’t easy either. No matter how I positioned it, it didn’t look like my hand at all.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41432261@N04/4254636194/

    Whenever I get anxious or depressed, I usually cook, garden, or do something similar that involves working hard and rather mindlesslly with my hands. I really do believe there’s a soothing quality to "getting your hands dirty", and an atavistic sense of purpose and creation and benefit.

    This is my sweet third baby’s dimply dumply hand. The abacus she’s playing with has been sitting in my gift closet for 3 years, waiting for a first birthday party invitation, since we had two kids and were all set, thanks.
    And now it’s hers. 🙂

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41432261@N04/4275679906/

  52. i love hands, too. why they are so photographable, i don’t know. it’s funny too, ’cause i don’t like my hands. i used to, but they are beginning to show my age, so i don’t like them as of recently. but i love other’s hands in photos. your image is so beautifully lit .

    just tonight, i listened to a great interview of elliott erwitt about his latest book called "hanndbook" — all photos of hands throughout the course of his profession as a photographer. here is a link to the interview:
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1186040

    so you see how i think this post is very timely.

    as did the interview that i listened to earlier, your post made me think of some shots i took of my mama’s hands last september:
    http://itsjusthowiseethings.blogspot.com/2009/09/please-pray.html
    if my father were still alive, i would so love to photograph his calloused carpenter hands.