21/365 Equal

"Equality for All"

Today we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the inauguration of Barack Obama to a second term as president of the United States.  Nearly forty years after King's great speech, it is sad that we are still striving for the same things for people in this country - equality and respect for ALL people.

It is certainly fitting that today's prompt was "equal."  I wanted to take a picture that had some meaning, not simply an image of two things that are equal.  I had no idea what that might be.  

Weber and I both had early doctor's appointments this morning.  I carried my camera along the way thinking that I might see something while I was out and about that would satisfy the day's prompt.  The only thing that I saw was the equal sign magnet that we have on the back of our car as a sign of our support for the right of same-sex couples to have all of the rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES as are provided to heterosexual married couples.  It is a symbol of the Human Rights Campaign.  Though the magnet has significant meaning, it is not particularly photogenic, if you know what I mean.  That did start a train of thought though.

As it got later and later in the day, I figured that I needed to go ahead and do something.  My day was plagued with a lack of creativity.  I finally decided that I would just take a picture of our wedding bands against a stark white background.  People could read into it whatever they wanted.  As I was getting ready to set up the shot, I had this feeling that I was selling out.  Yes, there should be equality in a marriage and two wedding bands might show that, but that is not the whole story that I wanted to tell.

Then came the spark.  I remembered the colorful bokeh Christmas lights that I shot way back in December.  I printed the image and used it as a backdrop for the rings because of its rainbow colors.  I was fairly happy with the result.

When it came time to post the image on the CY365 forum, I was a little reluctant.  Though everyone is very kind in their comments to one another, the issue of gay marriage is one that can be quite divisive.  I didn't want to be the one to introduce that into that venue.  I asked Weber what he thought.  Being that he is the one who ordered our sticker from the Human Rights Campaign, he told me to go ahead and post it.  I told myself that anyone who recognized the deeper implications probably would appreciate it and the others would just see it as pretty colors.

As of right now, I have received two comments on today's image.  

"Nice colors and composition." and "TES!"

I guess my instincts about the group were pretty good.