Nature Photography: Coexistence (No. 47) – See the Unseen

14 October 2019

Lens:

Spring Tulip; All Rights Reserved Copyright 2019 Sally W. Donatello

Click onto image to enlarge. Let me know your response to this image. Prints are available upon request.

Pens:

Each of the four seasons unveils elements that spark deeply emotional action and reaction. Still, autumn has a substantial hold on introspection. There is an internal force that weaves its way through my days and nights, giving attention to the seen and unseen, the noticed and unnoticed. From the dancing foliage to spent summer florals to bare trees to decomposing plants to migrating birds to hibernation to shifting daylight: the changing earth’s axis nods for us to pay attention to the world outside ourselves. This is a gift of autumn’s melodies.

The expanse of change requires a deep inhale and eventual long exhale. I tuck inwardly to assess, and then charge outward.

As geese fly overhead for autumn feeding grounds, my heart races with momentary contentment. Their distant quest resonates with their determination—determination made possible by the physical world of our planet and solar system.

Autumn’s timetable brings staggering resilience to the forefront. My spirit soars with ideas even as it puts some to sleep.

Contemplation has become the centerfold of my thoughts. I’ve been pondering my collages and photomontages, images made with the underlining theme of coexistence with nature. Through these works I can show the omniscience and omnipresence of Mother Nature: how she influences much of human nature, even as many do not recognize that bond and connection.

Nature is my muse and passion. She allows me to be who I need to be. She allows me to mobilize some of my inner thoughts into outward representations.

I’ve decided to observe (spy) on myself, relegate the synapses through new expressions to focus on my advocacy and reverence for the natural world: a world that simultaneously slows me down and inspires acceleration.

I want to create images with a new found emphasis and urgency about the climate crisis, which already has been an underlining theme. But it’s a process to find my aesthetic voice in this quest.

Our voices must echo across our neighborhoods, towns, urban centers, states, countries. It is a global crisis, one every single living creature shares in its reality and dangerous effects.

In the Lens section is an image that evokes my theme. While we march forth every day to our own singular beat, each path is riddled with the unseen–the unseen that exposes the beauty and the chaos of our world. The exposure of the tulip’s center is a macro view of its hidden secrets.

On a planet that we have tried to tame (to our detriment and the planet’s), I work at building more and more habitats for the wild things in my corner of the universe. Maybe its time for the wild to be in charge again.

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