Circle of Life: Donating Platelets
I've donated blood for years. With all the advances in medical technology no one has found a replacement for blood and platelets. This is my donation for Monday, Nov 16, 2020. They cycle the blood out, remove the serum and platelets, and then cycle it back into my body. The small pouch on the right are the life saving platelets. This is about the only action I take to directly save lives. Platelets are needed for treating cancer and immunodeficiency diseases. They only have a shelf life of 4-5 days and cannot be frozen or stored like whole blood.
Assignment
Circles are probably one of the oldest shapes that we as humans know. The sun and moon are circles in the sky, our irises and pupils are circles and many flowers and plants grow in circle patterns. There are also tree rings, orange slices and concentric water ripples. We repeat circle patterns also in the worlds that we create. Just think of table tops, fountains and "traffic circles" (roundabouts). Circles have a strong symbolic meaning for us. It can represent continuity or closure, and many religions value the circle as a metaphor for the "circle of life". You can approach this challenge from various (circular?) angles: Take a photo of an object with a circle shape. (I'd think that spheres would be included in this as well: balls, orbs, death stars, etc..); Take a photo with objects arranged in a circular shape.; Take a photo that represents a sense of continuity or closure for example a day/night photo, a graduation photo or a person removing a wedding ring.; Make use of circular composition to keep the viewer's attention inside the circle. Think vignette, a naturally circular frame, or shooting through something circular. Camera tricks like spinning the camera with long shutter, or a shallow aperture to get some ballsy bokehs.
