Seaside silence
Winter is my favourite time to visit beaches and recreational spots by the sea. The landscape is half asleep in a way. Snow covered ground and dampened day light seem to create a distinct silence. Only a few birds inhibit the seaside, and even they tend to be a bit more quiet than usual. The campfire spots are covered with snow and seldom do you see the people and families that enjoy the beaches in the summertime. When the summer comes there will be campfires and playing on the beach. Pleasant sounds of people having fun, childrens laughter, and couples holding hands…
….This time of year there is only an abundance of silence.
Beauty and the beast
Last summer a beautyful plant, but during the cold winter weather it has evolved in to a spiky little beast.
Motorcycling for the naturelover
Motorcycle riding can be a great way of experiencing nature. It does´nt need to be the offroad, inthemiddleofnowhere gobi desert kind. Crisp Sunday morning rides on curvy backcountry tarmac roads is way sufficient .
For the non motorcycling enthusiast this statement might sound, “naehh I don´t think so”. The sceptisism is understandable. After all motorcycling is associated with tarmac, noisy engines, and the smell of exhaust.
Still! It holds true. You sit out in the open with a broad view on the surroundings. The smell of grass and leaves gets to you inside your helmet, and you feel any change in climate or temperature immediately. The feeling of freedom is strong, you really flow through the landscape.
I often bring my camera and I have noticed that I seem to create different pictures than what I do when traveling by car. Maybe it has something to do with the state of mind that motorcycle riding puts me in. Riding motorcycles on narrow mountain or seaside roads is a wonderful way of experiencing nature…and life! If you get the chance..try it!
Wabi Sabi
The term “Wabi Sabi” represents a Japanese way of seeing beauty and perfection. I learned about it some years ago and it has fascinated me ever since. Although hard to define, the two words describe an aesthetic. Wabi sabi carries the thought of beauty in unconventional things through an acceptance of change and imperfection.
Yes!, to the western mindset it might sound like a contradiction. In western culture beauty and perfection is increasingly standardized. People, cars, houses and even personal gadgets are often defined as perfect or beautiful according to a norm that is narrow, industrialized, and only accepts one kind.
The consept of wabi sabi is sometimes described as beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” The term carries the idea of seeing beauty in the modest and humble, rarely a western way of thinking.
Asymmetry in handmade craftsmanship. The beauty that aging and elements of nature can create by altering the look of something as time goes by, are examples of this kind of aesthetic.
The whole idea of Wabi sabi is to me a fascinating way of seeing beauty and perfection. Maybe it is the way we should see other people as well. To truly see the beauty and value in diversity, celebrating uniqueness. And not only accept, but really learn to appreciate the genuinity in things that is meant to be just the way they are. The way an artist or nature made it.
I feel that only then can the real value of people, art, and societies be seen.
Drying in the sun
These poles were used by an old retired cargo boat as a last docking place for many years. I remember it from my childhood, we always passed it when we used to drive in to town. Eventually the boat sunk and left the premises to the cormorant. They come in from the sea and sit down to dry up in the morning sun. I have always found cormorants to be aesthetic and somewhat mysterious.
Within the frame of photographs
It might be blurry or dead sharp. It can be in color or black & white. It is of no decisive consequence whether it is captured with a Hasselblad or an Iphone. It can be a compositional masterpiece, or it can break all the rules. It shouldn’t matter if it’s created by a man or a woman, by a professional or an amateur.
Breathtaking beauty, endless poverty, majestic mountains and oceans painted by light. Captivating stories in peoples eyes. Diverse cultures and strange customs, cities of love and cities of hate.
It is all there for everyone to see, to bring joy and sadness, hope or frustration. All there…within the frame of photographs!
Imperfect perfectionist
I would love to do things perfect!
Everything would be so much easier if I did. Perfect pictures, a perfect photography business plan, a perfect web profile, writing that sets the world on fire……Ahh!! Sounds great doesn´t it? The idea reminds me of one of Nirvanas songs, “Oh me”:
“I don’t have to think
I only have to do it
The results are always perfect
And that’s old news”
But then again….what fun would it really be? The doubts, the mistakes, the joy of only sometimes creating an image exactly as envisioned, the everpresent search for improvement, it is all part of the journey. I would not miss it for the world, after all it is MY lifes journey, and it is for me only to travel it. And for you only to travel yours…
…Nah! I´d rather continue REACHING for perfection, but I hope, (and I am pretty sure) I will never get there.
Photography series: Birch #3
To me the Birch tree resembles something of quality, solidity, and “down to earth”. It has been a long ongoing personal project to photograph birch in various shapes and places.
Fine art
The lost days of Velvia
Planning is everything
Birch series.
Multisport Madness
terraepics 