Visual Reflections: Nature Photography in an Age of Uncertainty: No. 19 (Twilight’s Golden Touch on Lower Manhattan)

13 November 2017

Lens:

Taken in Camera+ and edited in Snapseed.

Twilight’s Touch Upon the Museum of Jewish Heritage; All Rights Reserved 2017 Sally W. Donatello

Sunset in Lower Manhattan; All Rights Reserved 2017 Sally W. Donatello

Click onto each image to enlarge. Let me know which you prefer. Prints are available upon request.

Pens:

One cannot think of climate change without its partner the weather. And the weathering of our hearts is just as affected by the myriad of weather-related altercations that are becoming more and more prevalent, regardless of one’s location.

Yes, for me nature is the master of the universe. And yes, we must do everything to help rectify our own role in this historic and major twenty-first-century major human problem.

Each step of my journey nature provides creativity, inspiration, motivation and tranquility. Each day my spirit is enlivened, for example, with the mysterious magic and mystique of each sunset.

Last week my grandson and I explored one of his favorite places, the East River and the Battery where water and land blend as well as interact with human nature to reveal Lower Manhattan. We arrived for the light show and its performance was extraordinary. We were entranced by the mood, the golden beams, the light gliding over buildings, the landscape illuminated and the river transformed.

We lingered as the light show doubled and tripled its coverage. Suddenly inland structures were golden palaces from ancient history. Everything was embellished and redefined with the touch of that glorious sunset. Nature provides and we are compelled to dive into her offerings. The duality of day and night with its light and dark are obvious, and still the scene riveted our senses.

We paused, we watched, we embraced our good fortune.

Note:

More than five years ago I indulged in a course about Ikebana: the art of Japanese flower arrangement. It was not for the love of rules, but the eye of the practitioner that enticed my interest. I was reminded of this experience as I read the article, “The Rise of Modern Ikebana” (by Deborah Needleman and published in The New York Times’ T Magazine on 06 November 2017).

Here is an excerpt: “One thing, however, that unites all the innovations and developments that ikebana has seen over the centuries is a search for balance between opposites. Ikebana is, fundamentally, an exploration of the frictions between the visible and the invisible, life and death, permanence and ephemerality, luxury and simplicity.”

And the final paragraph especially resonates with me: “like all living arts, ikebana changes and is informed by the culture and the times; what makes ikebana especially poignant and potent in this moment is its direct and personal connection to nature, its awareness of and emphasis on decay in an era in which our own ecological and environmental ruin feels more vivid than ever. A cherry blossom in bloom will soon be gone. But for this instant, it’s ours — and while it is, who among us can turn away from it?” To read the entire article and view examples of the art, click here.

Ikebana’s approach to the spare is very much the space that makes me feel calm and restful. Still, I loosely apply its tenets, bending to my own intuition and visual field.

 

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