[-= Sterebox & AngelZhou =-] A Photo A Day 2006

[Stereobox]

Theme of the week : Simplicity

"First Try"

upz for my own pic

the theme for the week is Simplicity.

my interpretation of the theme 'simplicity' is not merely to take photographs of 'simple' topics, objects or even taking photographs 'simply' - but to let go and free oneself of all attachments of meanings to the picture and 'see' it for what it 'is'...photographer and audience alike.

therein lies the paradox - the meaning of the picture is to have no meaning.

the picture is to illustrate this point, the difficulty and impossibility of 'freeing onself of all attachments, attain ultimate simplicity'. how do you detach your own shadow?

all in all, the entire series will be an exercise in irony. isn't simplicity supposed to be simple?

i apologise to visitors of our thread who have to deal with my increasingly self-indulgent themes.

 

[Stereobox]

This pic is simple, yet complex in it's own way :think:

mind to explain further?

i see it as meaning, the picture seems disarmingly 'simple' enough, just a picture of a leaf lying on the ground.

but on closer examination, one starts to question the 'meaning' of the picture. afterall, every picture has a meaning, and whatever appears within the picture is a clue to that meaning. whether existing or not.

i guess the 'older' we get, the 'harder' it gets for us to see things 'simply' the way they are.

 

[wiz23]

mind to explain further?

At first glance, it is just a leaf on the ground. Then, i ask, why this leaf? Out of so many others. Then, why is the ground so dirty? How did it get there? Then finally, after thinking too much, I remember StereoB's "what u see is what u see", or something like that :bsmilie:

 

[zaren]

upz for my own pic

the theme for the week is Simplicity.

my interpretation of the theme 'simplicity' is not merely to take photographs of 'simple' topics, objects or even taking photographs 'simply' - but to let go and free oneself of all attachments of meanings to the picture and 'see' it for what it 'is'...photographer and audience alike.

therein lies the paradox - the meaning of the picture is to have no meaning.

the picture is to illustrate this point, the difficulty and impossibility of 'freeing onself of all attachments, attain ultimate simplicity'. how do you detach your own shadow?

all in all, the entire series will be an exercise in irony. isn't simplicity supposed to be simple?

i apologise to visitors of our thread who have to deal with my increasingly self-indulgent themes.

no matter how simple u make it, the human brain will try to associate it with something that it is familiar with. for example, when i look at this pic, my brain tells me "1 o'clock". the only way to free yourself of all attachments is not to see at all, for that also prevents you seeing with your mind's eye. speaking of which, an empty canvas holds a lot of meaning for some ppl, a fact which may not surprise u.

having said that, i like how you are exploring the basic tenets of how we perceive, and what are the boundaries where relevance and meaning start to take shape.

 

[eikin]

simple-ness can mean simplicity, but might also be simplistic
simplicity is simple, but not simplistic
what is simplistic is simple, but doesn't mean simplicity

simplicity is beautiful, that which is simplistic is not. ;p

 

[AngelZhou]

upz for my own pic

the theme for the week is Simplicity.

my interpretation of the theme 'simplicity' is not merely to take photographs of 'simple' topics, objects or even taking photographs 'simply' - but to let go and free oneself of all attachments of meanings to the picture and 'see' it for what it 'is'...photographer and audience alike.

therein lies the paradox - the meaning of the picture is to have no meaning.

the picture is to illustrate this point, the difficulty and impossibility of 'freeing onself of all attachments, attain ultimate simplicity'. how do you detach your own shadow?

all in all, the entire series will be an exercise in irony. isn't simplicity supposed to be simple?

i apologise to visitors of our thread who have to deal with my increasingly self-indulgent themes.

I beg to differ.

If "Freeiing oneself of all attachments, attain ultimate simplicity" is what stereobox aiming for, Angel actually more toward "What lies beyond the simplicity."

Isnt simplicity supposed to be simple?
Perhaps.
But is that's all - is there any other possibility?
I do think so.

As there are a lot of way to go to Rome, there are many approaches how to interpret simplicity. In this case, I'm trying to face simplicity as a 'life' itself.
A life that has a lot of layer.

Complexity? Perhaps.

You will never know.

 

[AngelZhou]

i see it as meaning, the picture seems disarmingly 'simple' enough, just a picture of a leaf lying on the ground.

but on closer examination, one starts to question the 'meaning' of the picture. afterall, every picture has a meaning, and whatever appears within the picture is a clue to that meaning. whether existing or not.

i guess the 'older' we get, the 'harder' it gets for us to see things 'simply' the way they are.

You reminds me of a story I read before.

One of the character said something like, "The older we get, the tendecy for us to lie grow more and more. We begin to lie to others - to ourselves also somehow. We are afraid of others' reaction and end up change ourselves to someone else."
Sad but true, but what I like is what he said next.
"However there will be a time when you meet someone. Someone whom you wont be afraid to be what you really are. Someone you can be completely honest too."


Back to the picture - my interpretation once again is very simple.
It's a simple object of everyday life. It's just a simple object, i'm portraying the leaf at what it is. However when one start to question the meaning beyond this simple flower - one will discover another layer of simplicity.

It might be a fact - something that exist; it might be a story - something that does not exist.

And once again, it can be an irony.

 

[AngelZhou]

At first glance, it is just a leaf on the ground. Then, i ask, why this leaf? Out of so many others. Then, why is the ground so dirty? How did it get there? Then finally, after thinking too much, I remember StereoB's "what u see is what u see", or something like that :bsmilie:

Someone once told me, confusion is a good sign.

Agree or not, let me give my own line too,
"What you see is NOT what you see."

 

[AngelZhou]

no matter how simple u make it, the human brain will try to associate it with something that it is familiar with. for example, when i look at this pic, my brain tells me "1 o'clock". the only way to free yourself of all attachments is not to see at all, for that also prevents you seeing with your mind's eye. speaking of which, an empty canvas holds a lot of meaning for some ppl, a fact which may not surprise u.

having said that, i like how you are exploring the basic tenets of how we perceive, and what are the boundaries where relevance and meaning start to take shape.

I guess, "What know is what you see."

Agree with Zaren - people tend to relate their exposure with what they trying to understand. The first time i look at this pic, i thot it's a porcupine's hair.

 

[AngelZhou]

simple-ness can mean simplicity, but might also be simplistic
simplicity is simple, but not simplistic
what is simplistic is simple, but doesn't mean simplicity

simplicity is beautiful, that which is simplistic is not. ;p

another thing is, beauty is in the eye of beholder.

 

[AngelZhou]

As a respond this week theme: simplicity.

There is a huge definition of what simplicity can be. As a starter I prefer to just use a very basic understanding of what simplicity could be. Simplicity is a straightforward thing we encounter in our daily activities.

This is a photograph of a leaf, as simple it is.

Somehow this image is a remembrance for me to be careful to deal with time, as time is unstoppable and unrepeatable. Getting older doesn’t means getting more mature.

One told me yesterday, “Be careful with every single decision you made. You are not getting any younger.”

UPZ again for my pix

 

[eikin]

another thing is, beauty is in the eye of beholder.

actually only 50% true for me, universal values still exist for me, there's always a framework for reference and space for alternatives :sweat:

 

[AngelZhou]

actually only 50% true for me, universal values still exist for me, there's always a framework for reference and space for alternatives :sweat:

i have this weird opinion that everything that exist is beautiful in its own way.

Now I suddenly remember about "What you see is not what you see." I have a brother who is an aviation photographer. He is partially colour blind and he never realised it until he went for colour blind test for a university entrance. What interesting is that he took colour photographs without even realised that what he see is not what he see.

now that i think about it - somehow eyes make it difficult to 'see' what needed to be seen.

Seeing is believing. Think again.

 

[SnapSnap]

As a respond this week theme: simplicity.

Simple and yet not so simple... very nice texture... I like!! :lovegrin:

 

[knoxknocks]

simple-ness can mean simplicity, but might also be simplistic
simplicity is simple, but not simplistic
what is simplistic is simple, but doesn't mean simplicity

simplicity is beautiful, that which is simplistic is not. ;p

made me stop to think a while :think:

could this be a simple tongue twister?

 

[StereoB&AZhou]

"Elevator Ride"

This Picture was taken with Camera on 15 seconds-Mode while in Elevator, roughly the time it took for me to reach my floor .... "complicated" by over-excessive contrast pushing :sweat:

very straightforward :sweat:

 

[AngelZhou]

Simple and yet not so simple... very nice texture... I like!! :lovegrin:

thanks!:lovegrin:

 

[zaren]

"Elevator Ride"

This Picture was taken with Camera on 15 seconds-Mode while in Elevator, roughly the time it took for me to reach my floor .... "complicated" by over-excessive contrast pushing :sweat:

very straightforward :sweat:

i thot ur theme was simplicity? this is a complex abstract image!

 

[eikin]

"Elevator Ride"

This Picture was taken with Camera on 15 seconds-Mode while in Elevator, roughly the time it took for me to reach my floor .... "complicated" by over-excessive contrast pushing :sweat:

very straightforward :sweat:

looks like twilight zone ... :thumbsup: for the image ... abstract expressionism at work

 

[Stereobox]

i thot ur theme was simplicity? this is a complex abstract image!

yes, no doubt - our theme for the week is Simplicity.

but also, as i have mentioned earlier ..

my interpretation of the theme 'simplicity' is not merely to take photographs of 'simple' topics, objects or even taking photographs 'simply' - but to let go and free oneself of all attachments of meanings to the picture and 'see' it for what it 'is'...photographer and audience alike.

bsmilie: i love quoting myself, don't i?)

my pictures will be about exploring how i interpret and execute the theme, but not about the meaning of 'Simplicity' itself.

this post illustrates the point that ... a 'simple' picture can be easily 'complicated' by external influences.

(ok...pardon me for the straightforward explanation :sweat: )