Well now, to have finished a book
such as this
a beautiful book about
still life and life
in
still
–
ness
days of pandemic and how it was
we
got ourselves
through
about photography
what it is we may be looking at
or for
and what it is we
see
about life, lived
interrupted, managed
coped
enjoyed
it’s also about light
and how it touches us
it’s about marriage, artistry
and just how it is
we are
muddling through
it’s about ordinary things
and beautiful things
flowers, fruit, what things to add
and just what
to
take away
I don’t claim to know so much about still life,
if I am looking at art
I am most drawn to portraiture
however,
if you are to tell me about the beautiful light
and just how it falls
with the openness of a curious child,
I am apt to follow
and through this beautiful writing,
I have learned so much
of course I am already well acquainted with words
from Shawna Lemay
having followed her blog Transactions With Beauty
for quite some time
(and before that Calm Things)
having read several of her other books
as well as very much appreciating her skill
as a photographer
this beautiful human
of many, many talents
I humbly consider my friend
(even though we have not met)
while sitting in on this most recent conversation
Apples On A Windowsill
I am astonished over and over again
by just how much we have in common,
I mean, I do not have her talents,
I have never set up a photograph as such
but I certainly do like to wander with my camera,
I am always captivated by light
when it catches my eye
and I so admire
what it is
she
sees
I came to a great appreciation for Bruce Springsteen
late I suppose, for various reasons
but my devotion to his mind, and his words
his craft
is echoed often in Shawna’s work
I believe I will think of still life, quite differently
now, having enjoyed immensely
the thoughts put forth here
and it feels kind of wonderful
to have a look at life
simple, ordinary kind of life
one similar in some ways, and then
different from your own
but through someone else’s lens
and not in telling you, what it is you are seeing
but rather, in sharing thoughts
in a kind of ongoing
conversation
with a friend
that does much to nourish
how the light
touches
us ♥