Imperfections
From Still by Paul Sanders (page 129):
This approach involves accepting the fact that no subject is perfect and neither is any person. Our flaws and struggles, the dents and scars, are what make us unique. It’s never just the appearance of something that makes it beautiful; it is the story it tells that catches our heart, emotions and imagination, and like the shadow to light, it is the imperfections that tell the story.
The vase tumbled from the tray as I tried to rearrange things for a more pleasing arrangement. I swept up the pieces, lifted them with a dust pan, and tipped them into a small bag for recycling.
The next morning, I had an idea to honor the process of making the pictures for this project. The finished photographs look effortless and clean, but the process is very messy. We’ve been in the midst of a heat wave and my garage studio is hot; I am sweaty and sticky. I keep running out of room to put things, changing my mind on the fly, and taking lots of sketch photos with my iPhone camera. The work feels like a series of mini-explosions. There is a lot of luck involved and many surprises. Digging the broken shards of porcelain out of the recycle bin was worth the effort. The pieces remind me that not everything goes as planned, but I can often pivot and come up with new plan. The pieces are more exquisite than the vase was before the break.