Lens Artists Photo Challenge #43 – Less is More

27 april, 201923 februari, 2020 / Leya / 47 kommentarer

Amy challenges us to think Less is More – and that, is always a challenge… In photography we often talk about simplicity, and a photo standing on its own. No need for words. Often Black and White is helping us to achieve that.

So, let us slow down…because “Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

Less is More even when the ground is covered in spring flowers below a blue sky,

or when a lonely path strives to reach the mountain lake – because colours matter here –

The history of the phrase Less is More, is that it was adopted in 1947 by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohem. Since then, the aphorism is one of the most used (and abused) in design and architecture.

Originally though, this is a 19th century proverbial phrase, first found in print in Andrea del Sarto, 1855, a poem by Robert Browning. And it still is a phrase very much alive!

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Thank you for all your innovative and creative contributions to my hosted challenge Creativity last week!

Friendly Friday – Looking Up

26 april, 201926 april, 2019 / Leya / 12 kommentarer

Amanda, at ”Something to Ponder About”, asks us for the Friendly Friday Challenge to look up! When visiting my daughter in Umeå this winter, she made me look up to see this tiny Wolkswagen bubble hanging from the ceiling. Frankly, I loved it.

So, you had better be looking up in order not to miss those funny things!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Connections

25 april, 201925 april, 2019 / Leya / 39 kommentarer

Frank goes for Connections this week, and I have a story. Last week I went to The Netherlands for the grand flower festival and the parade – but also to reconnect with a man I met almost exactly 30 years ago when hiking the King’s Trail from Abisko, Sweden.

We have not seen each other for all those years, but we have kept contact by writing letters. A great deal of ones life ”happens” somewhere between 30 and 60. But, we recognized each other immediately. He was still shy, and so tall and thin, though his big bush of hair had turned greyer and a bit less bushy. Like mine.

We spent some hours walking, talking, eating good food and remembering those happy, hiking days in the mountains. 1989. I walked with my dog and he walked alone. I was very impressed by him being a professor in theoretical mathematics and he was impressed by me hiking alone, heavily packed and only accompanied by a big dog.

Where did all those years go? We still connect…Wim and I, and it was not easy to say goodbye again. Life is a strange thing, but so are connections. Just how do they work? What makes us connect, never forget, and still ”know” one another after so many years? Wonderful.

Thursday Thoughts – Flower Power

25 april, 201924 april, 2019 / Leya / 16 kommentarer

Flower power was a slogan during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence. It started as an opposition movement to the Vietnam War. Originally, the expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles. Hippies dressed in clothes with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair.

Who, my age, didn’t love the musical Hair?

As you can see, the theme of this year’s Keukenhof flower festival was Flower Power.

And Flower Power there was – in abundance. The pictures in this post all come from only one of all the exhibition halls…

Tulips, orchids, roses, hyacinths, anthuriums – cars and clothes!

As you can guess…I could have stayed here forever. After an hour or two, my poor husband found a chair somewhere…But, admitted that this was a glorious feast to the eye. To see the whole exhibition area, or most of it, we spent the whole day. Unforgettable.

Wordless Wednesday

24 april, 201922 april, 2019 / Leya / 34 kommentarer

CFFC: Bridges

23 april, 2019 / Leya / 9 kommentarer

Cee’s challenge this week is about Bridges. Of course there can be both indoor and outdoor bridges! Both hot and cold!

Macro Monday

22 april, 201921 april, 2019 / Leya / 13 kommentarer

Silent Sunday

21 april, 201918 april, 2019 / Leya / 14 kommentarer

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #42 – Creativity

20 april, 20196 mars, 2020 / Leya / 152 kommentarer

Creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas to create something new or somehow valuable – inventiveness. The created item may be an idea, a scientific theory, or even a joke; or a physical object, maybe a new invention, a literary work – or a painting. Being creative is a very valuable asset today – and has always been. That is, when creativity is used in a positive way.

I believe for many of us, being creative is a way to relax from our ordinary jobs (of course your job is creative in its own way too) and also to develop our minds as well as the use of our hands.

Snapshot of my son’s desk – (he is a graphic designer, and the wall quote is by Einstein)

Maybe the creative space most used today is at the computer in our own room? Or maybe not? This week’s challenge is all about Creativity – hobbies, crafts, creative spaces at home or places you have visited – show us your creative post…unlimited!

Last week I was fortunate enough to visit Keukenhof in the Netherlands, and the annual Flower Parade (Bloemencorso in Dutch). This is a glorious feast brimming with beautiful colors and delicious flowers. Twenty huge floats and thirty lavishly decorated cars follow a 42 kilometer route from Noordwijk to Haarlem.

Millions of flowers and the creative work of hundreds of volunteers make this most amazing flower parade possible. And, hundreds of thousands of visitors from Holland and abroad are drawn to the colorful flower spectacle every year. Let’s have a look at something of the brilliant Dutch creativity!

Some floats were so big, that they were divided into two – like this one.

The impressive Phoenix

When we visited Keukenhof in the 90’s we missed out on the parade, so this year, we decided to go to Noordwijk early in the morning to see the flower creations from up close.