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Summary: A set of exquisite photos that teach us how beautiful our everyday world can be.
Over 2,000 years ago, Socrates made the argument that the invention of writing would ruin mankind’s memory, since we would depend on written records and not develop our mental faculties. Extended recitations of the Iliad or Odyssey are nowadays unheard of; he may have had a point. Likewise, after the invention of the camera, some have argued that we no longer see special events. We take photographs, piling up endless albums, but never experience the events first hand.
Be that as it may, photographs can also teach us what to look for in the world, to capture a moment and to show us how to look for such moments in our daily life. Properly used, cameras can intensify our experience of reality.
These photographs arguably do just that. They take a moment that might otherwise have been lost and put the italics over it, make it last. They also show us what to look for in the world. Finally, they are works of art in and of themselves, worthy of contemplation.
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The sheer vitality of the bespattered horses charging the river could not properly be caught by a casual witness. The event is too dynamic, and only a keen observer could extract this moment from amidst the tumult.
Likewise, the flashing of lightning is often too instantaneous to allow for extended contemplation. Only with a photograph can we dwell on such an image.
This flair and the entire setting that marks it as a sublime moment could well be overlooked unless one was set on seeing the contrast of light against a darkening sky. We see what we look for. Photographs can teach us what beauty is waiting to be discovered.
The sheer artistry of this photograph makes us suspect for a moment that we are viewing a painting, something deliberately contrived to contain such contrast between bright vibrant colors and dark clouds and shadows. Nevertheless, such moments exist around us if we are looking for them.
Driving along the road we might overlook how striking the scenery is. How many people drive this road thinking of their destination and how soon they can get there, without pausing to consider that they are driving, that they are surrounded by a world ripe for consideration?
And of course not all beauty is natural. Artificial beauty, the beauty of manmade systems, surrounds us. Not only architects know this, but there is beauty in such everyday things as household appliances.
This picture lends itself to the philosophical consideration: this is a work day. This is a commute. We are part of this system. This is our life.
