It’s been too long since I took some time out for photography – even just 20 minutes to make new images. In fact it’s been more than four weeks since I made my little Lensbaby Sees Red, Infrared series. That is way too long, but work has had me bogged down!
I start getting agitated when I go for too long without creating new images. Who said anything about an addiction?
The other day I had a good exchange of e-mails with a photography friend from the blogoshere – Trond Haugerud – who is in similar situation as me (and many other people I’m sure).
We are trying to juggle work, young children, partners, social lives and photography all while surfing around the internet as well! Oh yeah, and Trond is squeezing in a phd as well.
Anyway, we arrived at the conclusion that we were both trying to do all the things we did before we had kids. We agreed that it was time to look at how we could prioritize things better in order to get photography back on top of the list of things to do regularly.
Photography is important stuff. No one wants an agitated husband or wife running around the house pulling out their hair, do they!?
Impermanence #01
Today I found a large fig leaf on the concrete ground just outside our warehouse and office. It was an unusual place to find a huge fig leaf as we are located on the upper level of a large business complex where no trees grow nearby. It must have blown up there after the stormy night we had in Sydney last night.
The leaf was incredibly beautiful. Stunning colours, an almost leather-like texture, attractive lines and intricate veins.
Well, it was beautiful to my eyes, some might have not even glanced at it. Some might have found it ugly. Others might have thought it less than perfect. But it was love at first sight for me.
I picked the leaf up and took it with me inside. Instinctively I knew I would want to photograph it later. It would be a photograph of impermanence.
Impermanence #02
The term impermanence is often also interchanged with the term wabi-sabi.
Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The phrase comes from the two words wabi and sabi. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete”.
This is a very intriguing concept and if you want to study the idea of wabi-sabi in more details I recommend that you pick up Leonard Koren’s book Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers. It’s an excellent read.
Impermanence #03
The Canadian photographer Richard Martin has also writen an excellent article on the topic of wabi-sabi in the Canadian photography magazine Photo Life relatively recently, and he also displays some excellent Wabi-sabi images in his Metal Works gallery on his website.
Another photography friend from the blogoshere – Scott Crane – also displays some incredibly beautiful and creative wabi-sabi images on his photoblog The Oswegan which is well worth a visit.
Impermanence #04
Anyway, back to the leaf story.
I barely greeted Myriam and Laura as I walked in the door just past six o’clock. Thanks to daylight savings I still had a good 30 minutes of reasonably bright light although the light was already starting to fade. I was determined to satisfy my urge and make some photographs, plus it was overcast and therefore a perfect day to make some leaf studies.
I grabbed my relatively new Canon 5DMKII which has seen much too little use since I got it in exchange for my Hasseblad XPAN II. I fitted my 100mm macro lens on it, got the tripod (which was dusty!) and stepped out on the balcony and got into it straight away.
Impermanence #05
I entered the beautiful world of macro photography for about 20 minutes, and though quite a short time, it was enough of a burst to at at least quench the immediate thirst. But when you are really thirsty and have a glass of water, you feel like a second glass shortly after the first one! Note to self: make more time to make images.
Impermanence #06
As you can see above I have made several different images of just the one leaf. In total I made 16 images and six of them are included with this rambling.
There is little doubt that investing even just a little bit of time in your subject is one of the easiest ways to become more creative. Look deeper and you shall find.
I hope these images have inspired you to look for impermanence and photograph it. Find some beauty in the imperfect.
As any photographer I enjoy feedback. I aspire to make an interactive website. So please feel free to chime in with a comment. What do you think about the concept of impermanence. Do you look for subjects that might be less than perfect seen with ‘traditional’ eyes? Do you have a favourite among the six images displayed above? I’d love to hear from you.
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18. November 2009 at 9:36 am
Well seen, Thomas. It is an incredibly beautiful subject, and combines two of my favourites – macro photography and decay.
I’ve not seen such a fantastic contrast of colours on a leaf before (but we don’t see many fig leaves in Scotland!).
I too, have been too busy to photograph much lately, but a clear, sunny day here prompted me to take a half day holiday and visit the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens glasshouse (with my Canon 40D and 100mm macro lens – snap). It was wonderful to spend a few quiet hours looking at the plants there. I am fascinated by the regular patterns that crop up in nature. I was also experimenting with my new Lensbaby and macro, which was fun and frustrating in equal measure – focussing with one of those when the slightest breeze would set the plants in motion was tricky.
Anyway, I got a few decent shots, and emerged smiling and invigorated, so it was a good day.
Keep on photographing – it’s always a joy to see your work.
18. November 2009 at 9:46 am
Hi Thomas,
Another interesting article and very nice pictures!
I really cannot decide which one I like most, they are all good. I like that there is a straight line and a curvy, winding line, which divide the leaf in different color zones.
Isn’t life itself “impermanent”, a constant change?
This leaf conserves several stages of change, reflecting the impermanence of life like a mirror.
About the part “Instinctively I knew I would want to photograph it later”:
When I find something interesting, I always do two or three shots right away, because you never know what happens and I don’t want to be “empty handed”. Then later I take my time to make further shots.
18. November 2009 at 8:50 pm
@ Mike: thanks for the kind words! It was exactly the three different colours – and to some extent textures – that grabbed me with this leaf. Pleased to hear you made some time for photography, it sure is invigorating.
As anyone trying to do macro flower photography I can completely relate to the wind and frustrations. One of personal mottos is
I find the blend of technique and creativity fascinating, sometimes frustrating, other times rewarding but always very therapeutic.
@ Timo: thanks for comment and nice words! You’re absolutely right about life being impermanent. Wikiepedia defines it along the following lines:
Impermanence is one of the essential doctrines or Three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is in a constant state of flux.
It’s an interesting concept and something that’s interesting to try to incorporate into images. I’m currently studying the ideas in more detail.
I didn’t have a camera with me at the time, but I know exactly what you mean about taking a few pictures straight away. It’s a good idea I think as sometimes something comes in the way and you regret not having taken the picture in the first place. I have tried this quite a few times!
18. November 2009 at 9:50 pm
Interesting read! I did not know about the wabi-sabi thing, so I just learned something new to explore
The concept of imperfect beauty really fascinates me. As for your beautiful macro shots, I like n.1 an n.3 above all.
18. November 2009 at 10:58 pm
Hi Thomas!
Thanks for another excellent post! You started out by mentioning our email conversation on the topic of not having enough time to photograph, and here you following up with a solution! Macros! Why attempt all the time to spend hours away from home, when I can bring some interesting objects inside? Some nice things and a place to set up my tripod is actually all I need right now. And when you get close enough, things take on a new meaning, you have shown that in this post.
And about that, my favorite image above is #2, because – to me – is resembles a coastline, seen from above. The green are fields on land, and the blueish line are waves that breaks on the coast. Great images, btw.
Hmm… impermanence… intriguing concept, I feel a little like it right now actually, being down at the moment with this famous, world touring flu… I´m happy my condition right now is not permanent…
Anyway, thanks again for keeping my sprit up!
18. November 2009 at 11:24 pm
@ Silvia: thanks so much for commenting, because it made me discover your work. I will have to take a closer look, but at first glance you have an amazing eye for colour and design in your images. Your ‘Abstract’ portfolio grabbed me straight away.
Thanks also for your specific feedback on the images. I appreciate it.
@ Trond: thanks for your kind comments. As you can see I enjoyed our little exchange of emails. Yes, macro is fascinating. It’s all whole different world looking through a macro lens. I know Mike likes macro a lot too as he mentions above as well.
I have seen some really stunning macros that look like aerial shots, and I had a slight sense of that too with #02 but I couldn’t quite put it into words and the picture didn’t quite get there for me, perhaps because I’m too close to the subject (that’s whole topic in itself – hmmm stuff for another post). But the fact that it resembled a coast line to you is interesting, because the thoughts definitely entered my head too. Thanks for letting me know. Much appreciated.
Oh man, the flu, I had it twice this Australia winter (and I might usually only catch a flu maybe every 4-5 years or so) and the second round was really bad. I was convinced I had the swine flu, but never got it tested, but the doctor did give me Tami Flu tablets which helped, but I hated it. You should be in bed, not in front of the comptuer! Get some rest, and get better. I’ll keep an eye on your blog for those macro shots