Lens-Artists Challenge #266 – Time

Donna has chosen Time as her theme. And Time can indeed be looked upon in many ways. We humans invented Time. Wikipedia explains it, in short, like this:

Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future.

Sometimes I think about how much my husband’s grandmother and my own grandmother had seen and experienced during their lifetime. Born at the end of the 19th century and died in the 1990’s. How did they cope with such gigantic changes during their lifespan? WWI, WWII, cars, TV, video, digital worlds, walking on the moon…Well, we do. We have to. We are made to. AI next.

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

– Albert Einstein

The enigma of Time. My grandmother spent her whole life in the little village where I was born. She read poetry and worked the land. She loved John Lennon and Michael Jackson. At the same time her eldest son hosted the Swedish pavillion at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. He moved back to Sweden after 17 years, but he never even mentioned his working days or time over there. (When I asked, grandmother took out a photo of my uncle together with Robert Kennedy at the fair. A frozen piece of time.) Born and raised in a poor family, he knew you should never boast about what you had achieved. Today…..I feel it is very different. Time changes…and in many ways not for the better.

The older I get, the more I find the concept of Time strange. That I am living in it, cannot stop it and cannot go back to relive it. ( Maybe you too loved those movies about time travel. I remember Back to the Future for example. And the Time Lord, Doctor Who.) Maybe the worst thing is that feeling of not being able to take good enough care of the time we are given…That is the trap we all are stuck in. One possible reason for this could be that most of us see time linear; some people, in other civilizations, see it circular. If we could do that too, I believe the trap might dissolve.

In my first image, a Bhutanese woman is working the soil in the same way that my grandmother did as a young girl, about 100 years ago.

100 years later, the land is worked with modern machines into even furrows and the potatoes are set with exact precision on top.

Time –

They say Time is the most precious gift. As I am ageing, I am beginning to understand just how precious.

In pictures, my Time gallery over 20 years, are from life with my beloved Lagottos. Mille was born 2002, a wild one, then along came Totti in 2008 – quite the opposite to Mille. Calm, laid back – a bon vivant. We had so much fun together.

You know – opposites can go well together. My husband and I are opposites – and over the years we have learned to live well with each other. It takes time, but you have to give it that time too.

I lost Mille in 2014 and Totti in 2021. Milo arrived in 2018, and it took more than six months for Totti to even look at him…but they too, eventually, became the best friends. Milo is the sweetest dog I have ever had, and I have had six dogs all in all between 1970 and 2023. They have shared my precious time and made every day more positive and fun.

Now this post was a lot of rambling through Time – hope it still held together and you did not tire of my time travels!

Thank you to Anne for her inspiration with Black & White/Monochrome last week. Wonderful responses! Next week we are proud to have Egídio of Through Brazilian Eyes as our guest host and we are set to Recharge. Please check his stunning photography and post for more info.

I want to send a huge thank you to Donna, for such an interesting theme and for the inspirational post she presented to us. I’m more than curious where all your replies will take us. Remember to visit Donna’s beautiful post and link back to it. The Lens-Artists tag will help us find you.

Finally, I will be on the road for some weeks, start Monday, with less wifi than usual – but I will check you out as soon as I can! Until then – stay well and be kind.

Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

Lens-Artists Challenge #265 – Black and White and Monochrome

Although humans see reality in colour, for me, black and white has always been connected to the image’s deeper truth, to its most hidden meaning.

– Peter Lindbergh

I have come to love monochrome almost as much as colour. I think mostly because you are more free to create another mood in the picture and to enhance features you would like to dominate. Thank you, Anne, for this interesting theme.

I believe details become clearer, and you can easier rest your eyes on a monochrome image.

There is of course another difference if and how you frame your picture…

…and if you go closer or keep a distance to your object.

You decide, depending on what your goal is with your image.

Some images I just love to have fun with in B&W – making them into abstracts…

– here are some favourites from the kite festival at Fanö, Denmark.

I use NIK Silver Efex for my B&W and monochromes. The option ”yellowed” in NIK is a favourite of mine. So is this crow, contemplating the waves, sitting on an abandoned jetty.

I don’t see the world completely in black and white. Sometimes I do.

– Benicio Del Toro


Sincere thank you to Sofia for her colourful challenge last week and for all your photos using amazing primary colours.

Thank you again to Anne for hosting this week, hope you are feeling better now, resting from the accident! I invite you to visit Anne’s amazing site and join us this week. Please tag Lens-Artists and link back to her original post.

Next week, Donna will be our host and that promises to be a treat so, please visit her beautiful site for more information. Keep well!