black and white photography

weekly photo challenge: express yourself

Were there someone

in the world

who feels as I feel,

we would talk all night

in this grass hut.

                              ~Ryokan*

weeklyphotochallengeexpressyourself

visit The Daily Post to participate in Krista’s photo challenge:  express yourself

*cited:

Sky Above, Great Wind

Kazuaki Tanahashi

the enemy in the world today…

It’s Not The Same

The demonstrators who…filled the streets…

the suicide core of the…who attacked…

And the students who charged against the riot staves of police…

They weren’t the same people.

…

what happened to all those people after that?

Nothing is ever quite the same

each time is different from every other

the heart of each person is disconnected.

But if there is one thing

that is the same,

it is that neither the newspapers nor television

ever reported on those young men after that.

And

the enemy in the world today

is not the United States,

is not the Soviet Union

but, bridged between you and me

unidentifiable

words of silence.

                                   ~Fukunaka Tomoko*

its not the same

 

*cited:

The Burning Heart

K Rexroth & I Atsumi

every face passes by…

cicadas at nightfall–

every face passes by

without speaking a word

                                                             ~Ishibashi Hideno*

faces passing by

faces passing by

*cited:

Far Beyond the Field

Makoto Ueda

one four challenge…week 4

words of old

whispered today by wind

in the reeds

                                           ~Shohaku

As I was stumbling around Photoshop, I found myself remembering a cartoon which pictured an overwhelmed student with a raised arm and the caption, “may I be excused, my head is full?”

That memory was followed by the remembrance of a meeting with a clinical supervisor who spoke of the importance of going back to the basics…so I exited Photoshop, found the original RAW image, and entered the realm of Lightroom…to begin again with the basic adjustment layers of:

  • highlights,
  • brightness,
  • shadows,
  • darkness,
  • hue,
  • saturation,
  • sharpness, and
  • black and white

I then did some reading about basic composition as a means to explore:  To crop or not to crop?

As I pondered this question, it came to me that cropping this image would narrow the context…the story…as well as the invitation to imagine the various elements  that came together to create this unique image—which, I believe cannot be recreated.

It is the various elements within this image that invites me to contemplate:   How did this leaf come to embrace the grass? Or, was it the grass that embraced the leaf?

The evasiveness to my questions is reflected in the image’s various degrees of blurriness/sharpness and light/shadow and thus I  find myself also wondering:   Was the leaf captured? Imprisoned? Or, was it saved?  

oneinfourweek4final

Jump on over to Robyn’s to join the One Four Challenge

 

The first three of December’s One Four Challenge

second week
third week

weekly photo challenge: achievement

On Foot

I had to Walk Through the Solar Systems,

before I found the first thread of my red dress.

Already, I sense myself.

Somewhere in space hangs my heart,

sparks fly from it, shaking the air,

to other reckless hearts.

            (“My self-confidence depends on the fact that I have discovered my dimensions:

It does not become me to make myself less than I am.”)

                                                                                                                           ~Edith Sodergran (1892-1923)

after the first snow (2)

to view additional images or to join in Michelle W’s challenge, “show us a photo that says ‘achievement’ to you” visit: thedailypost 

*cited:

Women in Praise of the Sacred

Ed: Jane Hirshfield