Wabi-Sabi? by: Gord Barker

    Have you ever looked at an image that may be slightly imperfect, but it grabs you anyway?   

  The concept of Wabi-Sabi is the act embracing beauty, inclusive of any imperfections.

    The paradox of it, in photography, is that composition in the craft teaches us to crop out that which is imperfect or detrimental, to create work that is good. 

    Sometimes you can't crop it out. Is it reason enough to abandon the shot? Sometimes the strength of the image  resides in it's innate beauty despite its flaws. Sometimes it's the flaws that emphasize the beauty of that which is presented.

     Without the modern SUV parked in the above photo, you would almost think that the picture was taken decades earlier. However the SUV doesn't necessarily detract from the picture simply because it provides a means of dating the photo in a given timeline. In fact, it's inclusion in the frame creates the paradox that helps make the image work.

     I'm not advocating the inclusion of imperfection as an excuse for haphazard, substandard work. I will always be a proponent of shooting with intent. Decide what is important in the frame and use whatever photographic tools are available to emphasize the subject.  Make the photograph be about something!

    But, doing so does not necessarily mean rejecting what might be a mundane or less than stellar subject or scene. Just as "A rising tide lifts all boats." Beautiful light illuminates all subjects, even the most mundane ones.

    

    There is a great deal of creative freedom to be experienced when one foregoes the constant need for  perfection in composition and subject selection. In my opinion, photography's greatest strength as a form of creative expression is its speed and immediacy. The only constant is change. Quite often the spirit or essence of the scene is lost while I'm attempting to portray it using conventional "rules" of composition. Digital photography provides me with far more opportunity than I had in the days of film. I have thousands of frames available to me on  a given SD card compared to the usual maximum of 36 exposures on a roll of film. Modern cameras respond quickly and have amazing potential to capture the decisive moment. 

     My new mantra is "Just get the shot!"  Try to capture what attracted my eye in the first place. The colour, the scene, the juxtaposition of the subject within the frame. I can play around with various visual elements later. Sometimes, in overthinking the shot in the moment of its creation, its very essence is lost. 

    This change in approach marks a change in style which, hopefully, might allow for the creation of more dynamic images. Stay tuned. This could get interesting!

                    ...more later