Hands

Mikayla Schroeder, age 2, plays with a Cabbage Patch doll. Like many toddlers, she is obsessed with babies.



Starting this assignment I found myself most strongly drawn to the hands of children. When we are born, we instinctively use our hands to explore the world. During those first few years of a child's life, that child will use his or her hands in ways that are entirely different from adults.


Children find hands especially useful for putting things into their mouths.




















SOU student Shayla Davis uses her Macbook for research on Friday morning. It is probable that a typical student's hands perform the action of typing more than any other.

As we grow older, our hands become increasingly devoted to repetitive activities. Typing, writing, pushing phone buttons, gripping steering wheels- we seldom have time for anything that allows free range and movement of the hands.


When not on the computer, Shayla spends much of her free time making beaded jewlery. You can find her jewelry at etsy.com



Student Jake Prahar's hands are most commonly found on his guitar, as he practices for hours each day. In this photo he demonstrates a unique playing style sometimes used by guitarists.

My observations over the course of this assignment have led me to notice a trend in human beings: the more time spent on activities that make one's hands happy, the more smiles one will experience overall.

























High school student Keenan Richmond plays Zelda for the Wii on Friday. Wii controllers require a much wider range of hand motion than most other standard controllers.