Abstract art is everywhere

Abstract photos are the best conversation starters. People will immediately go to the photo and stare at it for awhile and say "What's that?" They know it is real, but they are not sure. Then when they are informed you hear a big "Ohh, that's kind of cool, at first I thought it was . . . ." Abstract art is a way of seeing things in a different way. Something most people do not do. My favorite exercise in photography is one that Mark Flanders, my first photography instructor in college, had as an assignment - make a familiar object look strange. It is just like smelling the roses, only with the eyes.