A picture's worth

Though I stopped submitting photos to contests when my husband was laid off, I still get mailings about them from time to time. This morning I received notice of a contest entitled, simply, "Water," and I immediately thought of this image, which has always been a favorite of mine.

It was shot during the height of the fascination with bottled water, just as people were starting to realize what that huge infusion of plastic could be doing to the environment.  And I get that it's a bit of a period piece, because my husband and I were recently watching a TV show from the same era, and we were astonished by all the bottled water the cast consumed during the show.  Clearly the world -- at least in the Pacific Northwest -- has changed a bit since then.

Which is not to say things are perfect yet: surely bottled water is still being purchased by the caseload.  But I'd like to think we're scaling back, finding better ways to stay hydrated.  I'd also like to think this photograph, in its way, might make people stop and think; might help carry home that message -- in way less than a thousand words.   I know it certainly made ME stop and think at the time.  Amazing, how the camera teaches us to see...