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
Author: Sam DuRegger
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.
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…
#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.
Tears
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.
358 | 365
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.
351 | 365
🎉 5!
344 | 365
337 | 365
summertime. #bouttime
330 | 365
323 | 365
too much cute for one picture.
316 | 365
One generation goes its way, the next one arrives,
but nothing changes—it’s business as usual for old
planet earth.
The sun comes up and the sun goes down,
then does it again, and again—the same old round.
The wind blows south, the wind blows north.
Around and around and around it blows,
blowing this way, then that—the whirling, erratic wind.
309 | 365
#girldad
302 | 365
295 | 365
288 | 365
281 | 365
274 | 365
We are pieces and shards,
pressed together with glue.
Each section unique,
an amalgamation of hue.
Break a stained glass window,
an opportunity to create anew.
We are all under construction,
when we let the light shine through.
267 | 365
260 | 365
