New Year, New Eyes

Happy new year to all my readers, and a special thank you to paid subscribers – in these difficult times for artists, your support makes a difference.

For the first post of the year, I offer a visual issue inviting you to experience seeing without knowing. I enjoy the feeling of not knowing what I’m looking at, it’s a unique kind of space where imagination can take hold of a photo and see a number of different things in it, on different scales. So the point here is not to guess the “correct” answer, but to experience sight differently and creatively. The pictures are explained at the end!

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Reveal

• Pic 1 was the result of accidentally leaving a salt solution to dry out in a small tupperware. Interestingly, when I tried to repeat the experiment using a rounded container, the result was nothing like this!

  

• Pics 2-8 are macro shots of various plant inks that similarly dried out in their containers. When I was researching for Wild Inks & Paints I had dozens of these test cups lying around and they all dried out in different patterns, probably depending on each plant’s own chemical makeup plus whatever assist was added.

  

• Pics 9-14 are close-ups on tree trunks (cork oak, eucalyptus, birch…)

• Pics 15-20 are frost feathers on various cars on my street, shot last January during a sudden cold spell.

  

• Pic 21 is what happened when the frost melted to make droplets, only to freeze again right away!

• Pic 22 is the sun rising, seen through a bedewed pane of glass…

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