The Right Angle

Baylee Wolfesberger enjoying her Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday, October 19th, I went slacklining. I’d never heard of this before last week; it means to tie a broad, flat rope between two trees and walk across it. With or without your hand on someone’s shoulder – or two people, in my case. The trick is to step quickly, have both feet on the rope as much as possible, look at the tree instead of the ground, and grab on to your companions for dear life. It was more fun than it sounds.

It also made for some great photos.

I took a photography class in CEGEP, about six years ago. I can’t remember now what any of the developing fluids were called, how long to soak the negatives in them or even how to program an analog camera, but I do remember what my teacher said about photography and truth. She said even though the camera never lies – or at least it didn’t, before Photoshop – you always have a choice which truth to tell.

The scene in front of you is what it is, but the angle, lighting, zoom, or even whether we take the picture or not – that’s where your message comes through.

Slacklining may be fun, but there’s a lot of wobbling, grimacing and tumbling on the grass. On the other hand, when it’s done right, it’s as graceful as any tightrope walk. You can focus on their faces, their feet, a single person playing a stunt, two or three supporting each other, or the entire bunch of us around the trees in one wide shot. If each one of the eight people at the park with me had used their smartphones too, we would have all had slightly different angles.

What I liked was the smiles. Balancing in the air is exhilarating, and my schoolmates’ faces show it. I also loved seeing three people gather around to help someone climb the rope, and then to stay balanced. I saw her fear turn to joy right in front of me.

I swore when my dorm mates invited me that I’d never go on that rope, but seeing them encouraged me to try something new. That’s why I take these pictures, almost every day: because I never want to forget what I’m learning here.