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A Week of Mimicking Flowers
Notes from my daily photography experiments #1
How does one begin to recreate what already exists in nature?
I had tried to attempt that this week in preparation for a shoot. I had spent hours meticulously cutting shapes from crepe paper to create fully formed petals, stamens, and pistils, inserting thin steel wires in the proper places, bending and stretching the paper to match the elegance that is “flower”.
There is a joy to mimic what exists. I had been echoing a sentiment from John Steinbeck for years, where he said that only through imitation do we develop towards originality. We need to copy things sometimes and take the things we like for ourselves. We get to decide what we carry within us.
Perhaps if I try my best, I can copy the nature that I want to keep forever. Part of my desire for making flowers and trees from clay and paper is so I can have something that will never die.
Allow yourself to observe the world, and copy the world, without fear. Focus on the magic that exists around you, and magic will start to take shape within you.
When the water is still, it’s easier to see the things under the surface. So I tried to still my mind, and raise a white flag to the demons that have been living in my brain. Worried thoughts, pained…
