This week I bought a mango to eat. It sat on my counter waiting and ripening for several days. Then one day I looked at it and saw its amazing beauty. The color of it’s skin all golden yellow and turning red on the end, the dots of other colors mixed in, and smooth and satiny skin all inspired me to begin photographing it in my dining room/photo studio.
I arranged the white foam core boards I use as backdrop and surface, covered them with white cloth and finally with white cheesecloth.
Plain mango—plain beauty, form, color, texture. It felt wonderful and playful photographing this plain piece of fruit.
Whenever you start guiding yourself by caring about how you feel,
you start guiding yourself back into your Stream of Source Energy,
and that’s where your clarity is; that’s where your joy is; that’s where your flexibility is;
that’s where your balance is; that’s where your good ideas come from.
That’s where all the good stuff is accessed from.
—Abraham-Hicks
A Mango, Some Rose Petals, A Buddha Statue And A Feather
After photographing the mango by itself from a variety of angles I began riffing and playing around. “What else do I have that I could make into a still life?” I asked myself. A bowl of dried rose petals, a basket of origami cranes, a tiny Buddha statue, and a feather caught my eye.
I began with the rose petals…
Then I added some origami cranes…
I tried different arrangements, different colors and sizes of cranes. Then I added texture and background color in Photoshop…
It was pure play with no particular end in mind. I loved the colors. I loved the unlikely combination of objects. And I loved the spirit of play as I worked.
Finally I added the Buddha statue and feather, rearranged the still life a bit and made more photographs.
Being At Home In The World
“Oh! I love these silly images,” I thought. Then I realized that the final image fit perfectly for my photo group word of the week—HOME.
This image feels to me like being at home in the world, no matter what happens. Balancing unlikely events and practicing meditation and presence in the midst of everything. Joyful. Beautiful. Simple. Light as a feather. Playful. Not taking myself or my work too seriously.
Being at home in the world.
May you walk in beauty, play in joy, and be at home in the world.
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