Accomplished communicators juxtapose unexpected elements.

A story that starts with a man walking into the ladies room is off to a solid start. You’ve got my attention. It may be all downhill from there—maybe even predictable—but so far so good.

I think unexpected elements work especially well in still photos. That immediate surprise of finding two things from different worlds in the same frame is one of photography’s strengths. It’s simple and bold. Simple and bold almost always works whenever you’re trying to communicate.

Alexander received this game ball from his coach after making a nice play in the outfield. (I’m not bragging here. Five players received “the” game ball that day. I’m not sure Alexander quite got that. No matter, we were all very proud. It was a nice throw to second and probably saved a run, maybe even the game. There’s not a lot of game saving anything in Kelsh family sports history so when anything resembling game saving happens we party.)

Anyway, he spent a long time that night making a lego stand for his trophy; we found it the next day in his room. That beat up Babe Ruth looking ball sitting on top of his beloved childhood legos doesn’t quite belong there and that’s why it’s a lovely relationship.; the two parts of his life have unexpectedly joined creating a place we’ve never been before.

As Alexander grows up he clings to his childhood. That will always be a beautiful story and that’s why this will always be a good photograph.

Unexpected elements can be just about anything. It could be people. A picture of me dancing cheek to cheek with Angelina Jolie just works. It’s unexpected and a grabber—especially for my wife. It could be where someone is. It could be the colors of your subject. It could very simply be a look on someone’s face. There’s a reason Beauty and the Beast is compelling; we didn’t see it coming and then it feels so good and right.

I don’t really expect you to walk around your world looking for things that don’t fit together.  On the other hand, the quicker you recognize them when they come your way the better photographer you will be.

It’s just one more way photography will change the way you look at  the world. Changing the way you see may in the end be photography’s greatest gift.

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