I was watering and weeding the garden when I came across this weed. I thought it was so beautiful that I had to grab my camera and make a series of photos before pulling it! I kind of felt bad about yanking it out of the raised bed but I really didn’t want it to take over. I am trying to apply a mise en place strategy to our formal garden beds so this plant was out.
I blocked the sunlight to photograph different parts of the plant in shade light. The natural contrast of the leaves created beautiful contour lines. I think my awareness for this was stimulated by the recent podcast lectures I have been listening to about early Hellenistic and Chinese philosophy that sought wisdom from observing nature. by darkening the soil underneath I feel I could highlight the essence of of the plant that reminds me of jewelry. I can see why Karl Blossfeldt’s botanical studies are appreciated as fine art because the plant becomes like a sculpture when you isolate the fractal patterns like this.
I think I could find something to photograph in my own yard every day of the year. I came across this quote that agrees with me.
“Art is not to be found by touring to Egypt, China, or Peru; if you cannot find it at your own door, you will never find it.”
