Wabi-Sabi and other things I didn’t know

Week 4 of the BeStill project and I’m paying more attention to light and shadow.  Either the natural light that happens at different times of the day in different areas of my house or the lights I plug in and experiment with.  The desert sun is always intense, dry and burning…but I’ve seen it soften and diffuse in ways I hadn’t noticed before.  That is just one of the challenges for this weeks photography.  That and get to know your camera.  I like to experiment with my cameras.  I use each one for different things, for a unique perspective or to use the instant film look or to look through the viewfinder in a knew way.  All this slows me down, makes me more aware.

I have a long way to go with this still life photography.  Setting up shots and making use of the things around the house as props, making each thing inspiring and interesting is harder than you would think.  This is the first week I’ve tried several different props and different lighting.  Some big fails but some actually worked.  I realize this will be trial and error and I’m ok with that.  As long as I am pushing myself to learn.

I also heard a new term this week, Wabi-Sabi.  I love this definition;

Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.’

Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes.

So there it is, the imperfect becoming something of beauty.  Because that’s life.  That’s humanity.  Inspiration is everywhere if we pay attention.  But its time to move passed inspiration, time to take action and take the shot, even if it fails.  Because that’s life––in all its imperfect beauty.

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