There are times I photograph something without knowing that it will eventually become part of a series in the future. Some people may meticulous planners in this respect, but I prefer to more of an instinctive photographer and see what the day brings. I don’t recall the number of times I was in the middle of something and then an idea came to mind and I dropped everything and ran for my camera. Some days it works, others I end up mumbling to myself “well that’s not quite what I had in mind…”
In my previous post I shared about my current struggle with vertigo. Being light and noise sensitive at the moment, music and movies disturb me greatly so either I curl up with a book or fiddle with the camera and iPhone. The results have been unexpected, to say the least, but I liked where they ended up. Let me begin with some apples, where I wanted to play around with subtle erotica at first.
Then I grouped some apples that were anything but uniform in shape and size. The more lopsided or discoloured the better. Here the idea leans more towards the concept of harmony in diversity. None of these apples is perfect on its own, but together, they make powerful statements and support each other from different angles. We are all flawed in our human nature, but that doesn’t make us less worthy of a composition, group or photograph.
The next day I sat at the table and stared at a bowl of mini tangerines that were leftovers from Christmas. They definitely have seen better days but following the theme of celebrating flaws in the apples, I came up with this image, which embraces the importance of darkness in our lives. Without the darkness there is no light, no contrast and no shadows. Life isn’t just about pursuing the light and the accolades. The greater part of the journey is learning from the darkness within us, our flaws and struggles and making them stepping stones towards greatness. Look at these oranges, what makes them stand out isn’t the sharpness or the texture, but the shadows and the negative space. Without it, they would be nothing than a boring old bowl of oranges.
It was only after I finished editing these images that I realised that I could group them with previous food shots and re-conceptualise the series as the Slice of Life. So here is what it turned out to be:
This has been a growing series since 2020, all spontaneous shots, but since I don’t possess a crystal bowl, I could not tell in advance what was going to happen with the individual photographs. That’s what the life journey is all about isn’t it? We live the individual moments for what they are, and then only when we look back and connect the dots do we realise that everything led up to the present moment.
FrogDiva Thoughts 