From Amateur to Artist

Wherever travelers go, cameras are sure to follow. It's great fun to take pictures, and even more fun to relive the entire trip back home by showing slides to friends and relatives.

There's Aunt Sarah, grinning in front of Buckingham Palace; Aunt Sarah, posing under the Eiffel Tower; and Aunt Sarah, reflected in a Venetian canal. If the audience seems silent, it is probably speechless-form boredom. Everyone knows what Aunt Sarah looks like; they also know what Europe's great landmarks look like. Frankly, they would rather be somewhere else.

But the story can be different: a young man, just back from a trip to Greece, asked a few friends over to see his slides. The young man had an artist's eye and, what's more, he had curiosity. His pictures were not of familiar Greek columns. Instead he photographed peasants at work in the fields, fishermen repairing their nets, and bearded priests bending over their bibles. He captured the color and character of the country. His friends, who expected to be bored, were so enthusiastic they asked for more.

Any amateur can do the same if he is willing to look beyond the obvious. All he needs is a simple camera and a little sensitivity. When he learns that a nation lives in its people as well as in its landmarks, he moves from amateur to artist.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is even more fun than to take pictures during one's trips?
2. Aunt Sarah had made a mistake because ____.
3. The young man's slides were a great success because ____.
4. What does an amateur need if he wants to take unusual pictures?
5. An amateur can do almost as well as an artist if ____.

(Keys.)