I want to start by saying that this assignment was very inspirational for me. I think we all have a tendency to get stuck in a rut with our photography, and this assignment helped me break out of that rut in several ways. First of all, the contrast in philosophies between eastern and western art was "eye opening" and opened a whole new realm of potential for me. I'm talking about the description by Fredric Lieberman in "Zen Buddhism And Its Relationship to Elements of Eastern And Western Arts" where he says, "
Art in the West has developed a complex linguistic symbolism through which the artist manipulates his material to communicate something to his audience... The Zen artist, on the other hand, tries to suggest by the simplest possible means the inherent nature of the aesthetic object... The job of the artist is to suggest the essence, the eternal qualities of the object, which is in itself a work of natural art before the artist arrives on the scene." This perspective allows us to see and appreciate the beauty of simple subjects, even though they might not fit our preconceived notion of beautiful, and encourages us to convey this beauty to our viewers free of the typical stereotypes. I REALLY enjoyed your submissions that celebrated the beauty inherent in simple scenes.
In addition, this assignment encouraged me to explore a whole new
style of art. One that emphasizes sparse compositions and very simple shapes and forms that convey the "essence" of an object or scene. I enjoyed exploring this new style, and creating images that encourage observation, quietude, meditation and an appreciation for the beauty of that moment in time. I also really enjoyed the haikus!
The
guidelines for this assignment were to strive to compose an image that conveys the "essence or eternal qualities of your subject" in the simplistic style of Zen art.
Cindy's
Study time image did a great job conveying the quietude and study that comes with an appreciation of Zen.
Study timePhotographed by Cindy Miller Hopkins (cmhimages)
I appreciate that Cindy uploaded this image while still in the middle of her travels, and was kind enough to share the image without being too concerned with editing it first. After all, we're supposed to be able to appreciate a scene as it is, "with nothing added or taken away." Still, I couldn't resist a few edits to the scene (and can justify it by saying that I'm compensating for the shortcomings of digital photography to record the full exposure range in a scene.) I pulled the image into Photoshop and used the clone tool and a bit of exposure adjustment to eliminate the blown highlights in the scene. This corrects the tendency of these overexposed areas to pull our attention (and appreciation) away from the main subject. I also suspect that the website stripped the embedded color space from the image when it downsized the image, so I embedded a color space in the image I uploaded.
Study timePhotographed by Cindy Miller Hopkins (cmhimages)
Minor editing to remove blown highlights by Keith
Cindy's beautiful Lanterns image was another victim of the website stripping the embedded color space. (That happens when the software automatically downsizes an image larger than 1024 pixels on the longest side.) Several people commented how vibrant the image was. Sometimes the colors can appear too saturated if there isn't an embedded color space in the image, since the software then displays those colors at their maximum values. I pulled the image into Photoshop, assigned a color space of AdobeRGB and then converted to sRGB for display on the web. The resulting colors are probably more similar to what Cindy saw when she took the picture, and being a bit more subdued they probably fit a little better with the "quietude" of the Zen assignment. This was a very strong composition, and the limited depth of field worked very well with this composition. Nicely done.
LanternsPhotographed by Cindy Miller Hopkins (cmhimages)
LanternsPhotographed by Cindy Miller Hopkins (cmhimages), color space embedded by Keith
Cindy's
Good Deeds image was my favorite of her series. The colors and composition in this image worked beautifully together to set a wonderful tone. This image was beautifully framed, and the composition was just outstanding!
Good DeedsPhotographed by Cindy Miller Hopkins (cmhimages)
Lars'
Daily Life image was a great reminder that "the concept of Zen is fundamentally about ordinary everyday life." The image made me smile, but the haiku truly illustrated Lars' artistry, and his understanding of the concept of Zen. Thank you for that wonderfully positive pairing of image and haiku Lars.
日常 日常生活 (Daily Live)
Early morning - the toothbrush waiting - a fresh day to come
Photographed (and written) by Lars
Lars'
Full Wolf Moon image was very well done, showing us amazing detail in the moon that we can't see with our naked eye. Again it was the combination of image and haiku that made this submission special.
Winter night’s - Full Wolf Moon - Your life pass You by
Photographed by Lars
I believe that most true art is metaphorical. Often times the "message" in the art is complex enough that it can't be verbalized in simple words, but instead is revealed by the artist through metaphor and reinforced with techniques that create the emotions needed to connect with the viewer. Great art invites every viewer to "connect" with the message but at the same time is ambiguous enough to allow them to interpret the meaning in ways that are relevant to where they are in life at that particular point in time. We connect with true art at an emotional level, and it often provokes introspection and acts as a lens into our own feelings and emotions. Carol Haywood tells us that "The qualities inherent in expressions of Zen include...subtle profundity." Zen art reveals great perceptiveness and insight.
Your submissions that I appreciate most are the ones that are great metaphors for life. Michele's
Flight image strikes me as being such an image. It is rich with emotional tension and symbolism, and invites us to interpret the image as more than just the sum of the individual parts. I'll let you interpret the image in a way that has meaning to you, instead of imposing my interpretation. It's obvious that many of you were also struck by this image, since it was the overwhelming selection as "
People's Choice," and I've selected the image as
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
FlightPeople's Choice and
Editor's Choice for Artistic MeritPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
I also appreciated Lucs two images corresponding with the Sichuan Earthquake, and his observations about life, and whether or not we can be serene enough to accept that "life is just as it is"? Thank you for sharing these two thought-provoking images and the context in which they were taken Luc.
Sichuan Earthquake may12th 2008 14.35hPhotographed by Luc Bigler
Young buddhist disciples in a monastry in northern ThailandPhotographed by Luc Bigler
Ahhh,
Enjoying the moment. Michele was concerned that she had cut off the tip of Lauren's hand in this composition, but the reality is that minor infraction can be forgiven when you capture such a beautiful expression. Beautiful image Michele!
Enjoying the momentPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
If you saw Dave's picture of me photographing along the shore of El Dorado Lake (in his personal gallery) you would realize how small and seemingly insignificant the mound of snow in my image below really was. I love that this assignment encouraged me to see the beauty in a small and relatively insignificant snowdrift.
Exploring with friends - magical forms on the ice - letting zen find us
Photographed by Keith
In my
Simply Tree image below, I tried to reduce the tree to its simplest form, and appreciate the beauty of its shape.
Simply TreePhotographed by Keith
When I posted my
Winter Flyover image in the gallery i described how I created a composite from two separate images (a vertical panorama really) and then modified the color to convey what I had visualized in my mind's eye when I snapped the image.
Winter FlyoverPhotographed by Keith
I love the simple strong composition and the appreciation of beauty in Dave's
Leaf - Frozen Lake image. Dave's imagery always brings with it a "fresh perception of what is, with nothing added or taken away. Life is just as it is."
Leaf - Frozen LakePhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
And of course who couldn't smile at Rebecca's appreciation of the simple pleasures of a "
Beautiful Table * I did not have to cook meal * Life is very good." Rebecca did a great job of balancing her flash with the ambient light to convey the elegant mood for this special meal.
Beautiful Table * I did not have to cook meal * Life is very goodPhotographed by Rebecca
Chris' image of
Whitetails in the Morning was a beautiful rendition with wonderful light and depth. Dave said it very well when he commented that, "Including the environment contributes much to the feel of the photo, and your focus is perfect, helping to draw the eye to the deer. The out of focus deer in the background is great too, giving it a sense of depth." Outstanding image Chris. It's not only a great image of the deer, but conveys a very real sense of what the experience was like to see the deer on that cold, crisp morning.
Whitetails in the MorningPhotographed by Chris Franklin
Jaime's
"....what's in a name?" image is absolutely gorgeous. And the fact that this was a "found image" (not something staged or set up) that Jaime saw while looking for water in the kitchen of a family friend fits in wonderfully with the Zen assignment. I'm going to resort to an old trick that I've used in the past when more than one image deserves Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit, and I'm going to "trade in" my Technical Merit selection for a second
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit. This image is just too gorgeous not to be recognized. Jaime "broke the rules" a bit by including blown out highlights behind his subject, but it works very well in this case, giving the image an ethereal quality.
"....what's in a name?"Editor's Choice for Artistic MeritPhotographed by Jaime Dorotan
Jaime's image titled
".....where there is nothing" is technically outstanding; however, what made this image special was the image caption. "We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the wheel depends. We turn clay to make a vessel; But it is on the space where there is nothing that the usefulness of the vessel depends. We pierce doors and windows to make a house; And it is on these spaces where there is nothing that the usefulness of the house depends. Therefore just as we take advantage of what is, we should recognize the usefulness of what is not." - Lao Zi Thank you for sharing this wonderful insight Jaime.
".....where there is nothing"Photographed by Jaime Dorotan
Marilyn's image titled
OM.... was a fun image and a great interpretation of the assignment. The "ghost" effect was cool, and I'm impressed that she could look so relaxed after jumping quickly into the scene. Hmmm, the 8-second meditation. Fits in well with our modern society.
I do see just a bit of motion blur on the tapestry and wonder if that is because of the movement of the air as Marilyn "whooshed" into the scene, or if it is because Image Stabilization was left on during the long exposure. (I suspect it was caused by the image stabilization, which can
induce movement during a long exposure on the tripod.)
OM....
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney
I really like the perspective of Dave's wide angle shot in his
At Lake's Edge image. Photographing "close and wide" helps emphasize the detail in the snow and ice (and leaf), and causes the trees on the opposite shore to recede into the far distance; essentially transforming them from a distraction to a supporting element in the composition. Wonderful job composing this image Dave. (Please tell Rebecca that I need a new super-wide lens for my birthday. The 12-24 would be nice, but since we need to save our pennies to send Evan and McKenzie to college, I'll settle for the 16-35.
)
At Lake's EdgePhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Rick did a great job capturing the "feel" of a pine forest in his image of
The Forest. I can imagine breathing in the smell of the pines in the crisp winter air. Rick did a great job handling the exposure for this image. It's obvious that the bright sun would have caused autoexposure to severely underexpose the image, so Rick did a great job evaluating the exposure and setting an appropriate exposure manually.
The ForestPhotographed by Rick Pepin
Chris'
Frozen Lake image has rich colors and tones and tremendous depth. The "implied leading lines" formed by the patterns of dirt and snow along the shoreline do a wonderful job of drawing the viewer deep into the scene.
Frozen LakePhotographed by Chris Franklin
I mentioned in my comments to one of Chris' other images that I was very impressed with his ability to "see" interesting compositions in the ordinary scenes around him. His
Roots image is just such an image. I saw Chris photographing this scene, and then later walked by this location myself, but failed to see anything interesting in the scene. Chris must have soaked up all the Zen while he was there.
The rich tones and textures are what make this image. I suspect the saturation was bumped up quite a bit in post processing and that technique worked very well to enhance our perception of the richness of this scene. I can almost smell the damp leaves and earth, and feel the rough texture of the roots under my feet. Well done Chris!
RootsPhotographed by Chris Franklin
Chris'
Ice image is another capture that illustrates his ability to see interesting compositions. I love the whimsical outline of a hiker in the ice "cutout." Chris did a great job capturing the early morning light, and I like the warm and cool light together in the same scene.
IcePhotographed by Chis Franklin
I must say thank you again for the wonderful images you all submitted for this assignment. You inspired me and helped me to expand my vision.
Keith
