Field Trips In Jurassic Park.

Rummaging through my archives searching for an upload for the month of August, I , after some deliberation, decided upon this picture.

The aforementioned deliberation was due to the fact that most of the time, when I am choosing which pictures to share, I had always chosen pictures that had some form of concept and intent, and thus by habit I steered away from those that seemed like simple documentation of events around me (even though this one was technically "set up", as it were from a human's perspective, it still depicted a rather natural event that an inhabitant of a small world would see whilst walking through the forest  ) .

And in the case of this piece, it is much simpler in concept and intent than most of my pictures.
 It's simply composed of (as follows):

• two toys _{(a dinosaur skeleton and a girl)} ,
• a natural woodland forest scene and awesome morning light _{(something I have a bit of a love-affair with)} ,
• with a sprinkle-shower-splash of rain _{(created with an atomizer, as you might have guessed!).}

But I chose it for this month because of a simple, perhaps more diary-like, personal reason.

I chose it because I feel that life is not always staged and beautiful, with fully thought-out concepts all of the time. And that perhaps that's not such a bad thing. For there are always the backstage rehearsals, the experimental and explorative photo shoots, the hours spent reading in the library in simple wonder and amazement, and the hours wandering among the forests and parks, on the beaches, in a simple appreciation of nature. Far from being passive activities (which is what they may seem to look like from the outside), these things actually inform, inspire, and enrich our lives, our minds, and our work, and they in turn  inspire and enrich our concepts and our ideas. They expand and widen our vision of possibilities. They make our minds and imaginations active and inventive. This is because they create rich and wonderful memories and knowledge-stores that we can turn to time and time again.

Thus, one must have some moments of quiet , perhaps even quiescent, wonder; moments free of projects, pressures, or any other ambition-driven pursuit. Moments of artless, whole-hearted appreciation at the simple fact of existence.
If not to simply rejuvenate and awaken our super awesome super-brains and inspire us to go out there and do stuff.

I chose this picture because I feel it celebrates the simpler things in life that I really do enjoy, that I feel a sense of wonder and delight about, and those are mainly (as follows):

• nature (the key theme of the whole scene),
• science (symbolized by the rainbow, which symbolises my fascination with the physical study of light),
• the dinosaur skeleton in the background symbolises my love for the beauty of natural history, exploration (embodied by the girl with the backpack),
• curiosity (perhaps why the girl is there in the forest in the first place),
• and the simple act of spontaneous picture-taking without any specifically targeted concepts or stories.

For art is a celebration of the human capacity for creativity, of the joy of creating pieces that simply exist to delight and amuse humans, to inform and to inspire humans, to challenge and to play with ideas and to create interest, and as such would logically also include all the uniquely human quirks, whims, and idiosyncrasies; the bits some call "imperfections".

In my smattering of observations of my favorite artists, Van Gogh being prominent, I've observed that in wonderful pieces of artwork, one's unique character and personality traits, something that everybody has, is almost always infused within it.
Van Gogh said of his painting "The Potato Eaters" that the character and soul of the painting more than made up for the painting's technical imperfections, and for that specific reason, that the painting had "soul", he was very happy with the result of his finished accomplishment.
Two years after having finished the painting he wrote to his sister Willemina that he still considered it to be the best thing he ever did (he's so cute right wow I love him so much what a darling).

So I feel that, yes, there is a time for ambition, drive and vision, and there is also time for sitting back and simply breathing in with all of your hundreds of senses, physical and intellectual, the wonderful magic of life and of living. An occasional, restorative luxury one must allow oneself once in a while, perhaps.

And also, to the photographers, never feel guilty of simply appreciating and capturing what's right in front of you, of not really feeling like imposing a vision, prop, or concept to the scene at hand.
It doesn't mean that you're being work-shy, in fact it is quite the contrary, it means that you see clearly enough to distinguish when to create a vision of your own in order to bring life and interest to the scene and when to know that the scene is already naturally brimming with life and interest and that your task is simply to preserve this delightful moment. Balance is of the essence!
Sooooo!  
This one's a rather simple and open-hearted commentary, for I thought it would be a good change to contrast with the rest.
No heady theories or philosophies, just a simple, down-to-earth diary-entry-style piece of writing.
 

Thank you so much for reading,
and I wish YOU a splendid and inspired day.
Love,
Tia.
        


                                            


<sub>Okay,
I really don't take myself seriously,
I mean seriously,
I don't.
This pseudo-philosophical rant is a simple expression of opinion,
and do forgive it if it sounds dogmatic,
which I whole-heartedly did not intend,
for I am a big proponent of the honest expression of opinion for all people,
but I am the biggest kookoonut in person,
so one mustn't take it all too seriously.
Commentaries are all in good fun!


PS: I have no idea who the girl is or what anime show she is from. My parents bought an awesome set of these figures as a gift because they knew that I like taking pictures of toys.</sub>