Week 5 – Tragedy
Photographs from this theme would remind us of how easy it is for more or less good people to make small errors that end up unleashing catastrophe. Tragic art helps to remind us of how much compassion is required in order for a society to function humanely. Continue reading
or•di•nar•y
new normal.
Bored, nothing to do
Astro has adjusted to us being home more. He get’s more walks, and more attention, but he still likes to run off and have some alone time. Don’t we all.
Jump!
Sometimes sidewalk cracks contain lava…
Week 4 – Ordinary Life
Photos under this theme would assuage our feelings that life is somehow always elsewhere, and that glamour and importance reside where we are not. Goal of these photos would be to enhance the prestige of ordinary life.
be a good sister.
We like to talk about our individuality, our uniqueness and what makes us independent… What about togetherness, oneness, and dependence one each other.
What makes a good sister isn’t independence but dependence on each other. The realization that they are stronger together than alone. That is the hope anyway.
A little help please?
As we walk around our neighborhood “exercising” we see lots of signs of support for the dependence we have on delivery services. How different this pandemic would be if it happened even 5 years ago.
dependence
We have have it in some form. Sometimes healthy… other times not. We all share the need to lean onto someone/something.
Week 3 – Dependence
Photography in this theme would highlight how much we owe to others and continue to need the support and reassurance we relied on when we were younger. These photos will rehabilitate the idea of dependence.
Playgrounds are closed…
Negative Positive
Where once there was there now is not.
s n e a k e r s
sneakers born ready,
for the day that lay ahead,
not able to go.
#WFH
#WFH
“behind the curtain of created realities”
I spend time in photoshop manipulating and placing photos for Woodshed’s website on a semi-regular basis. This is my setup, the tools of the trade per se, taking something shot with lights and a white box, cutting out the products and placing them in other shots or on websites to help convince someone to buy more tea, coffee, or swag.
#7Lenses #melancholia
We hide our faces
We drive with masks over our faces, eyes wide with suspicion. Hands at 10 and 2.
We hide our faces, our coffee-stained teeth, and crooked incisors. We hide our humanity found in our smiles, frowns, and mehs. We do this for reasons unknown… polarizing opinions from either side whose faces aren’t covered, snarling and spitting opinions over zoom calls in mansions and million-dollar apartments with doormen. But I shouldn’t be complaining… I have running water, a car with gasoline, and two pairs of glasses.
We hide our faces looking to see if the other car is going at the 4-way stop sign.
We wave them on, giving them the right-of-way. We are in no hurry, as there is no place to go… but home.
Week 2 – Melancholia Universalis
Under this theme would come photography acknowledging how much we have to be sad about, helping to reduce our anger at the frequent disappointment of reality. Photos will show that we have not been damned, we are simply experiencing part of the accidents and sorrows that come with being alive. Not to be reduced to a “Negative Nancy” or a “Debbie Downer” position, rather these artistic responses should push against blind optimism and feigned perfection our filtered photos on social media might try to convey.
Other Stories of Brokenness
We found this lemur hidden between the rock it’s sitting on and the bluebonnets. It was hidden, dirty, wet, and sad. Somewhere a small broken heart misses this lemur. We set her up, sitting, waiting. But it’s been days now and she still sits, waiting, as the storms start rolling through.
I tend to like more photos that I make for a theme that I typically share. While quarantined I’m changing that. These are my other images of brokenness. More inside.
Don’t Let The Door Shut
Often times, in my life, brokenness is equated to failure. Is that the reality? Whenever brokenness comes is it due to a failure? Maybe… but it seems as the globe continues to rotate that brokenness is just that. It’s brokenness. Some of us experience in “heavier” ways, but we all have the experience in some form.
What will I do with my brokenness? Pivot? Crumble? Learn? Destruct? All of the above? The hope, as terrible as it is, would be to sit in it. Feel it. Experience it.
Don’t let the door shut until it is felt. At least that’s what I tell myself…
I caught myself staring at the ceiling again.
I’ve spent a lot of time staring at that ceiling fan. Mostly after our lost pregnancies. Mourning our three children that would never have a future. I am a broken man, pulled back together. The photos this week reflect some of that brokenness, and some of the healing.
Tears
is hard to do.
Better to let them,
find you.
Week 1 – Brokenness
An Introduction…
In the next eight weeks, we are looking to explore and respond to eight consoling values in direct conflict to modern ideals. In this week’s theme of Brokenness, we are responding to the ideal of perfectionism and perfectability — the notion that we are or can be made perfect. Ideals are by definition, something to aspire to, a drive toward excellence or absolute perfection. Many religions are based in the transformative action of made being perfect, righteous, enlightened, or without blemish, and have grappled with human nature to be quite the opposite. As we move to a more post-religious society, we may not need to throw everything out — including how we respond to our consistent lack of perfection, righteousness, or enlightenment. We are all human striving towards the eternal ideal of perfection and in this pursuit, we fail and fall. This week’s theme is to elevate the vulnerability of failure, of brokenness, and of missing the mark.
Week 1 – Brokenness: Under this theme will sit photography that could help to reconcile us with our broken and imperfect nature, which would liberate us from the folly of perfectionism and render it safer to share our vulnerabilities with others. The goal is to feel less alone in our vulnerabilities.
Quarantine Edition
After a 4 year hiatus, we are back with the 7Lenses – Quarantine Edition. From April 6 – May 25, 2020, we’ll post a photo challenge on this blog every Monday followed by the posting of our photographic interpretations of this theme throughout the week with a Sunday deadline. You can follow along here or join us in the challenge by posting with us on Instagram using the hashtag: #7Lenses. For this 8-week edition, we’ll follow the School of Life’s 8 Consoling Virtues as the guide for each of the challenges.
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for my girls.
grey brown green and blue
they look up to me
and cherish you.
every morning
giggles tears or screams
stir from another room.
no rooster needed
a cock-a-doodle-do
would do no good.
the day begins
you lead these faces
to far off places.
with books
stories
and new adventures.
nap time brings reprieve
two hours of selfless cleaning
a reward for your help less leading.
when I get home
it’s half past six
work is long and arduous.
you are here
balancing the world
juggling our four girls.
beautiful.
i shed all malcontent
when i see my girls
eyes so full of wonder.
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🎉 5!