Art imitating life. You’ve heard that before. Well, this photo doesn’t exactly show the same scene in the painting as I was witnessing across the other side of the Cours Mirabeau in Aix, but it strikes me as close enough to make me wonder…….
How do we see the world? Is it like painting? Do we construct an image of reality in our brains? And if we do, how “real” is that image? In many ways, the brain works a lot more like a painter creating a representation of what he or she sees, than it does like a camera, converting the light rays into a fixed image on film or disc. I like that. I like that the way we perceive the world involves creativity. Day by day, minute by minute, we create the reality we perceive.
Heroes Not Zombies 
Some do more embellishing than others when putting the puzzle pieces (perception of reality) together. Others have more pieces to work with. (They observe more detail.) I’ve found myself baffled more than once, because I noticed something my companion didn’t at first. I’ve had several “How could you have missed that, it was *right there*!” moments. But, I’ve had people do the same with me as well. Odd feeling, to be on the opposite side of that coin.