Last January, I went to the 90th birthday party of my wife’s aunt. I wrote about it in an earlier post Green Bay Touchdown at the Barley Club. I enjoy being with my wife’s family and there is always something going on.
One of the subjects that I like photographing is young children. This is because they are totally immersed in their world. Their brains are physically developing at an incredible rate, building the neural pathways that form their various intelligences and memory. At the same time, they are absorbing immense amounts of information and mastering: their bodies, self awareness, language, social rules, and everything else that we, as adults, take for granted.
This young fellow is fascinated by a conversation between two men standing near him. I don’t know what they were talking about but it was obvious that they had his undivided attention. It must have been important because he had forgotten the birthday cake that he had been eating a minute before.
Note: David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, has a new book out, The Social Animal. It explores human nature and how we develop into the people we are. While I don’t agree with all he says, it is a worthwhile read.