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Photography by Ira Gardner

Seed of Thoughts

Posted on January 17, 2026January 18, 2026
(2026) Spokane, WA Photogram 26-02 © Ira Gardner

I got to play in the darkroom again this week. Coins, rubber bands, and a leaf with a nice curvy stem. Creativity happens sometimes by accident. I only had one rubber band so I moved it slightly and made an additional exposure. I think it makes a nice sense of motion and the curves it created emulate the sweeping curve of the stem on the leaf. The circles represent the seed of a plant and the nucleus of an atom. It could also represent a solar eclipse. Either way, a simple circle shape became the seed of an idea that germinated randomly in the dark.

I find it interesting the way ideas play together. A couple of days after this I came across the idea of how two systems can be perfectly adapted to one another without any conscious communication or shared knowledge. I think this idea was drawn to mind by this photogram. Why did I choose to put two white circles on the light sensitive paper. Why did I let the bands overlap with the leaf?

The subconscious filters the world based upon a lifetime of experiences, thoughts and self reflections which turn into a random image that shows up and says “here I am.”

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© 2025 Ira Gardner

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