through the lenses of a Ricoh Caplio GX100 and Sony NEX-5N to the year 2013
violets on the gate–
even at night
sweet nostalgia ~Issa*
I recently gained access to all the images posted to WordPress beginning in 2011 so this is an exciting way to begin looking back.
Thank you Sofia for this lens-artists invitation: looking back.
*cited: http://www.haikuguy.com
Who knows why?
But cool somehow is the glow
of fireflies. ~Inawashiro Kansai*
*cited: Steven D Carter, Haiku Before Haiku
over the fields of
last night’s snow–
plum fragrance.
~Okano Kin’emon Kanehide*
*cited:
Japanese Death Poems
Yoel Hoffmann
How invisibly
it changes color
in this world,
the flower
of the human heart.
~Ono no Komachi*
“… our ordinary vision is limited, and…our conventional consensus of reality is not the only version of reality.
The complex multidimensionality of the modern world no doubt contributes to the constructive habit of the mind that, in its attempt to provide meaning, continually rearranges the world to fit individual needs. The failure to recognize the constructive nature of the mind can be a major obstacle to artistry and creativity. Conversely, understanding the constructive nature of the mind and reality can lead the way to Great Understanding in the art of photography and in the art of living.” (61)**
cited:
*The Ink Dark Moon
Trans: Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratant
**Tao of Photography
Philippe L Gross & S.I. Shapiro
Is my mind elsewhere
Or has it simply not sung?
Hototogisu*
~Ihara Saikaku (1642-1693)**
*Hototogisu, translated as cuckoo, wood thrush and sometimes nightingale.
The bird’s song is a strong but mournful cry.
It is said to die after singing 8,008 times.
It is also known as the “bird of time,”
“messenger of death” and “bird of disappointed love,”
and flies back and forth from this world to the next.
Confucian axiom: If one’s mind is elsewhere, one will look but not see, listen but not hear
**cited in:
The Classic Tradition of Haiku
Edited by: Faubion Bowers
The child claps his hands
playing alone, happily,
under a festive tree ~Issa*
Egidio invites photographers to share photographs that are associated with songs. That is, “what music do you hear in your photos?”
I thought to share this masterpiece of abstract art created by a very quiet and thoughtful artist.
While photographs do not bring to mind music, they often speak to me either through haiku or a haiku accompanies me during a photo walk. There are associations with images and scent as well as music and memory.
Music seems more abstract than other art forms because it represents emotional states, symmetry and repetition, and other intangibles. But just because you can’t see or touch these things, doesn’t make them any less real. In preliterate societies, music was probably one of the best methods for storing and conveying complex stories and information.***
One of the best ways to understand how the over-all space of creative expression reflects its parts is to imagine yourself inside the space of the artwork…select a place within the composition where you would like to locate yourself for a few minutes of contemplation. …imagine…passing through different areas of the artwork…feel…energetic patterns. (152)****
*cited: The Spring of My life
Trans: Sam Hamill
**used with permission by the artist
***The Ethan Hein Blog (www.ethanhein,com)
**** McNiff, Shawn
Trust the Process
Even into the mind always clouded with grief,
There is cast the reflection of the bright moon.
~Lady Sarashina ( Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan)
In this world
the living grow fewer,
the dead increase–
how much longer must I
carry this body of grief?
Ono no Komachi (J Hirshfield & M AratanI, The Ink Dark Moon)
carving aged faces
sunset by sunset – whitening streaked hair
days of yesterdays
If I say
this or that,
how ordinary grief becomes –
broken cries are the words
that sorrow’s voice demands
~Izumi Shikibu*
*cited:
The Ink Dark Moon
Trans: J Hirshfield & M Aratani
How peaceful is
Every single dawn;
I gaze out, yet
Still in the depths of night
I dream…a grief, indeed.
~Princess Shokushi*
a meditative journey 
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