Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #88 – Chaos

Outside, the sun is shining and the birds are singing – it is a beautiful morning in my garden. For this week, I had already chosen Chaos, not knowing how well this would apply to what many of us are living in right now. Thinking about it this early Spring morning… it all feels unreal. But, the world is still standing, and the sun is still shining.

First, we want to send our heartfelt wishes to blogger friends all over the world, those who are quarantined and those who are not yet there. May we soon see an end to the spreading of the Corona virus. In this fearful situation, we are all grateful for the contact and support made possible via internet and blogging.

If you need further help with handling your thoughts on this pandemic situation, please visit Cindy Knoke . She gives sensible and expert advice.

My life is organized chaos. – Kathleen Kennedy says. And maybe that is what Life really is – so, how do You look upon, and handle, Chaos?

The word Chaos originally refers to the void state preceding the creation of the universe or in the Greek creation myths. Chaos in modern use, in the sense of ”complete disorder or confusion”, first appears in Elizabethan Early Modern English.

Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos. – Mary Shelley

I always think that women are the chaos managers of life. – Teresa Heinz

– Something my own experiences tell me is – true!

Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories. – Walter Benjamin

We will have a total chaos without books, literature, and library. – Anne Waldman

Using chaos as a creative force – might be a challenge. But, yesterday I watched the Swedish ”Culture News” program, where an Italian/Swedish author and an Iranian producer talked about the Corona situation in their countries. And yes, it was a heart warming program where I was really amazed at people’s creativity!

A video clip showed musicians and actors using their quarantine to paint, to learn another instrument or a new foreign language; to read books they otherwise wouldn’t have read. And some said they used this new ”free” time to spend it with their kids. Also interesting, was that Italians were allowed free use of internet on their cellphones.

Anything worth doing good takes a little chaos. – Flea

But I like the chaos. As long as it’s happy chaos.  – Ayda Field

 

Let us focus on the possibilities, staying on the right track. Maybe nothing will be quite the same again – but let’s hope this chaos is the beginning of something new and positive.  Maybe these quotes and images will release some more of your creativity for our journey together on this bumpy road…

Feel free to interpret Chaos any way you want – what it looks like, how you cope with it, how you work on it, what you will do when everything calms down, etc. We are looking forward to Your version of Chaos!

Many thanks to our guest host, Miriam of The Showers of Blessings, and her beautiful challenge – which gave us so many reflective reflections!

Have you seen these:

Elizabatz – clever and fun at the museum.

Klara – a very artistic post.

Rupali – amazing quotes too to go with her images.

Sandy – sandyjwhite – Puddle art.

 

As usual, Tina, Amy, Patti and I value your creative responses and thoughts. Thanks for joining us, and above all, Stay safe! On March 21, your host will be Amy of The World is A Book .

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #87 – Reflections

We welcome another guest blogger this week, Miriam of The Showers of Blessings.  She suggests we find reflections to share.

Believe it or not, but I found myself in some of mine…even though I never do selfies.

Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
Charles Dickens

Today, International Women’s Day, we might just change his quote a bit…and put in woman and women too.

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

― Charles Bukowski

Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you’re just a reflection of him?

Bill Watterson 

Bewilderment increases in the presence of the mirrors.
Tarjei Vesaas,

When do I see a photograph, when a reflection?
Philip K. Dick,

A lake is a landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.
Henry David Thoreau,

 

These images were made in Iceland, Stettin, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Norway and Switzerland. As usual, click to enlarge.

For the rest of March, we will follow the usual schedule – and stay tuned for next Saturday when the host is me, Leya!

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #86 – Change Your Perspective

This week Patti shares some different perspectives to try in our photography – ”We invite you to break the habit of shooting photos at eye-level and change your perspective. […] show us your photographs taken from a variety of perspectives -”!

I believe the differences are clearly visible in flower photography –

In the opening photo of my ”Princess of the Night”, I am lying on the floor in the middle of the night to get a view of the inside of the flower.

Close-up – from a low position is one of my favorite perspectives.

Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph. – Matt Hardy

Eye level – front and side, often looks even better back lit.

The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.
– Robert Mapplethorpe

Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.– David Alan Harvey

Going low from a distance can sometimes create a more interesting picture.

A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
– Ansel Adams

Looking down is necessary to get the beauty of both the butterfly and the flower.

With tiny flowers, mass-effect can do the trick – and light and darkness of course.

Where light and shadow fall on your subject – that is the essence of expression and art through photography.
– Scott Bourne

Sheer Mass-effect

Thank you, Tina, and all participating bloggers, for last week’s Treasure Hunt – a success with many fun and interesting entries!

And here is a Special announcement:

At Lens-Artists are delighted to announce that the March 7th challenge (#87) will be hosted by our special guest host, Miriam Hurdle at The Showers of Blessings   Please be sure to visit Miriam’s site on Saturday, March 7th to view her challenge.  For the rest of March, we’ll follow our usual weekly schedule:

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #85 – Treasure Hunt

This week Tina wants us to go on a Treasure Hunt! Our challenge is to search for specific items – either from your archives or newly captured – from the list below. Extra credit items are a bit harder to find, as are multiple items in a single image. Focus on quality over quantity and hit us with your best shot(s)!

  • Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall
  • Extra Credit Items:  An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image.

Sunset is a moment where all emotions are experienced: Melancholy, amazement, intoxication, casuistry, admiration, love, sadness…
Mehmet Murat ildan

In the opener – sunset, seascape, birds and boats in The Netherlands. The other scenes were found in Bhutan, Tibet and Poland.

Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame! – William Butler Yeats

Dance is the most fundamental of all art forms. – Twyla Tharp

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.– Roger Caras

This Boxer-like sweetie gave me a real fright. When I was passing this shop, he suddenly jumped up at the desk – the shop owner looked a bit shocked as well…I had to be quick to catch the moment!

Knitting not only relaxes me, it also brings a feeling of being at home. – Magdalena Neuner

An old photo, but I still remember these lovely Tibetan ladies waiting for market customers – and making a useful time of it. They were very shy, but smiling when I asked about their knitting and told them I knitted too.

All my images are self-portraits, even when I’m not in them.
Nuno Roque

I met this beautiful lady on the pilgrim trail to Taktshang (Tiger’s Nest) in Paro. She stopped to offer some nuts and dried fruit (I was a bit poorly looking…), and then passed me with a vigorous step – reaching the temple at least half an hour before I did. She was 75, and no sign of panting in the thin air…

Each and every animal on earth has as much right to be here as you and me. – A.D. Williams

We were fortunate to see the national animal of Bhutan – the rare Takin. Folklore has it that the animal with a goat’s head and a cow’s body was created by The Divine Madman, a famous holy man from Tibet. The Takin lives in the alpine zones, at 1000-4500 meters height, and weighs about 300kg.

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination
and life to everything.
― Plato

I enjoyed these skilled street musicians for almost an hour, in Lodz, Poland. Not until after uploading the photos, I noticed the spooky thing behind the musician to the left…

Thank you, Amy, for the fun Narrow theme last week!

A Special Announcement:  All of us at Lens-Artists are delighted to announce that the March 7th challenge (#87) will be hosted by our special guest host, Miriam Hurdle at The Shower of Blessings   Please be sure to visit Miriam’s site on Saturday, March 7th to view her challenge.  For the rest of February and March, we’ll follow our usual weekly schedule: