Cubist Inclination

The Cubists, most notably Picasso and Braque, engendered the broken-up, multi-angled Cubist style of painting to show their subjects in greater context. They sought the essence of the thing rather than one simple, beautifully executed representation. When I get caught up in studying something with my camera, I feel the same need for different angles of view. If I'm interested in something enough to photograph it, I want to record many views. Last night I came home and noticed a blobby shadow cast on the wall by miniature carnations, which I find quite beautiful and delicate compared to their full-size, crinkled counterparts. The shadows here add movement to the composition, making the still life seem as much animated as still.




This morning there was only the faintest shadow in the opposite direction:





The stems are split and suspended in the water:





Light cuts the center, and here the stems seem to me like part of a lab experiment:





Blobs of blossoms:




Even better:




Before putting the camera away, I also studied this vase that once home to our beta fish Jack (Dawson, from Titanic) then his successor Truman (Capote). By study, I mean prop my elbow against the wall and hold my breath to get the sharpest shot possible hand-holding the camera at 1/5 of a second. Laziness or ingenuity? A little of both. I wanted the image dark because the vase is an empty space, forlorn if you want to read that much into it.




Lastly, leaves in the back yard as seen through red curtains: