Thinking Small

Belly Scraps

One of the key philosophies that drives my selection of photographic subject matter: the little things we overlook in life are far more interesting than the big things we obsess over.  I admire the quality of introspection in photography, because it illuminates life’s little ironies, contradictions, and truths at such a personal level.  The deep furrows in an old man’s face or the fading arc of spring wildflower in its last days.  A young maple shoot poking through a bamboo fence.  Rain droplets clinging to snakeskin.  We miss so much truth and beauty in the world because they simply fail to register on our scale of the obvious.   And yet there’s so much we learn from a second look.  The Japanese recognize this possibility in the concept of kami.  Natural objects are inhabited by spirits, which have the ability to express themselves and in turn enlighten us about the world in which we live.  Even if I don’t accept animism literally, I embrace the spirit of its message in my photography.

Reference the photo to the left.  I wish I’d had my macro lens at the time, but the point remains valid.  When I took this shot, I was struck by two very different worlds in harmonic coexistence; the inner life of the pitcher plant contrasted against the vaster workings of the universe beyond.  Within the belly of the plant, myriad dramas of life and death unfold with an essential interdependence on, and yet independence from, the world that exists outside of the plant.  It was if the pitcher plant were speaking to me about the tiny stage on which our lives play out every day, contrasted against the greater dramas unfolding on the universe’s infinite stage.  So perhaps photography isn’t just a matter of composition and technique.  Perhaps it speaks to certain greater truths resident in its subjects.  Further, I’d argue the more intimate the subject matter, the more obvious those truths become.  Future blog posts will continue to explore this line of thinking; for now, I leave you with this reassuring image of hapless dinner guests slowly dissolving in the digestive juices of their less-than-gracious host. Bon appétit!