nature

rose buds

How invisibly

it changes color

in this world,

the flower

of the human heart.

                              ~Ono no Komachi*

 rose

…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)**

 

sources:

*The Ink Dark Moon

Trans: Jane Hirshfield with Mariko Aratant

**Tao of Photography

Philippe L Gross & S.I. Shapiro

weekly photo challenge: curves

Share a picture of CURVES and explain why you chose that picture!

Gramophone

Gramophone

Blue Bird

Blue Bird

‘A photograph,’ it has been said, ‘shows the art of nature rather than the art of the artist.’  This is mere nonsense, as the same remark might be applied equally well to all the fine arts. Nature does not jump into the camera, focus itself, expose itself, develop itself, and print itself. On the contrary, the artist, using photography as a medium, chooses his subject, selects his details, generalizes the whole in the way we have shown, and thus gives his view of nature. This is not copying or imitating nature, but interpreting her, and this is all any artist can do. ~Henry Emerson *

cited in:

Tao of Photography  Seeing beyond Seeing

Philippe L. Gross and S. I. Shapiro

macro monday II

The remarkable thing about deja vu, or other vivid experiences of recollection, is that they are vested with significance that we cannot put into words. At an earlier time, whatever happened might have seem important, or it might not.  But the recollection is charged with relevance, and tears flow for no reason.

~R. Aitkens

macromondayII

accompany you home

leaf waterfall

Dear Larry,

as the winter winds travel across Wyoming’s landscape

the swirling snow releases its memories of you, lost upon Casper Mountain

its frigid touch awakens me to imagine your

aloneness in that wilderness of blinding snow

cries, deafened by the river of winds,

calling out in hope for

a human form to emerge out of the whiteness

the warmth of a human hand

the sound of a voice, comforting you

to accompany you home.

as I become lost within this winter’s swirling thoughts

the river winds tear into my soul

releasing tears arising from

the darkness of grief’s aloneness, seeking

a knowing to emerge out of ignorance’s darkness

you found peace

within a loving presence

that embraced you

and accompanied you home –

until then may refuge be found within the nature of things.

weekly photo challenge: illumination

IN A NEW POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PICTURE THAT MEANS ILLUMINATION TO YOU.

Roget’s International Thesaurus: applying color, explanation, learning, lighting, ornamentation, painting, picture, radiation, teaching

how colorless, now–

fields where I took bush clover

for my garden ~Satomura Genjo

winter’s slumber before January’s snow

winter's slumber

winter’s slumber

weekly photo challenge: delicate

IN A NEW POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PICTURE THAT MEANS DELICATE TO YOU. 

Delicate …  the dance

of light and shadow

between insight and ignorance

in life and death

from suffering to tranquility

shadow and light

  May you become acquainted with tranquil single-pointed concentration . . . those who seek wisdom through the lens of tranquility glimpse reality in the same manner as a lighted candle — the light chases away that which is hidden within a darken closet’s shadows.  Insight, once risen, shines light into closed hearts and minds and keeps the gloom of ignorance at bay