Lens-Artists Challenge #125 – You Pick It!

“Pared down to its essence, Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature.”
Tadao Ando

This week it’s all up to you – you get to choose your subject and to share whatever it is about it that you find interesting. Personally, I’ve chosen last week’s introduction to the concept of Wabi-Sabi, particularly as it relates to art and photography, as my topic. Our local photography club held a zoom class on the subject, led by nationally-renowned artist / photographer, Jamie Konarski Davidson.

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”
Marc Chagall

As a lover of both nature and impressionism, I found the presentation particularly interesting. Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese concept that recognizes beauty in the imperfections of life and the natural cycle of growth and decay. I’ve often commented about the fact that many photographers (present company included) are drawn to objects like broken down barns, old rusty vehicles, or abandoned homes with broken windows and overgrown, weed-infested gardens. What I didn’t realize was that in the world of Wabi-Sabi, all of those things are considered intrinsically beautiful.

“Pare down to the essence but don’t remove the poetry.”
Leonard Koren

Part of the concept of Wabi-Sabi is being aware of our surroundings and looking for beauty in everyday life – in its impermanence and imperfection. Ms. Davidson encouraged us to depict our subjects not only as they appeared, but as we felt while photographing them. As such I’ve chosen to highlight some of the beauty I found on Kiawah this week using textures and impressionism.

“The Japanese sense of beauty…has been dominated by a love of irregularity rather than symmetry, the impermanent rather than the eternal and the simple rather than the ornate.”
Alain de Botton

We were encouraged to slow down, observe and notice everything around us, making no judgements. A friend had earlier suggested I visit a forested, inland area of the island that had been overrun by marsh tides, affectionately renamed the “ghost forest”. My second image was captured there, as were my header and the two images that follow. The area has become a habitat for amazing birdlife, incredible grasses and hundreds of tall, bare trees reflecting perfectly on the waters in which they sit. The stark beauty of the place is the best example of Wabi-Sabi I can imagine.

“The intersection where wabi (minimal) and sabi (functional) meet is the platform for my creativity: space and quiet solitude, simplicity.”
Laurie Buchanan

In addition to the images I’ve included from the Ghost Forest, I’ve also included images from my own home. Muted Blooms, Whispy and the Southern Camellia were all captured early one morning after a light rain. If not for this week’s class there is little chance I’d have noticed those subjects.

“In every art, achieving simplicity is one of the hardest things to do. Yet it’s easily the most essential.”
Pete Turner

This week we hope you’ll share a subject that is near and dear to you, that you find interesting, or challenging, or perhaps that shows us something new or unique to you. It can be simple or complex, funny or endearing, educational or just for fun. It’s totally up to you – we look forward to seeing what you come up with. Please remember to link your response to this post and to use the Lens-Artists tag to help us find you.

As always we very much appreciated your creative and thoughtful responses to last week’s Now and Then Challenge. Have you seen these?

Sarah at toonsarah-travels takes us through one of few remaining rainforests of the Pacific Coast
Teresa of My Camera and I shows us how her beautiful art and her memories of travel are intertwined
Khurt of Island in the Net speaks to the difficulties of isolation as we await the arrival of the vaccine and hopefully a return to more normal life
We welcome Alison from Travels with Ali to Lens-Artists

SPECIAL NOTE: For those who expressed a wish to have advance notice on our themes, next week Patti will present us with an Alphabet Challenge – Subjects That Begin With The Letter A. Forewarned is forearmed !

Wishing everyone a safe and healthy week ahead.