Still Lifes

Sea Shells

Still life photography has always inspired me in capturing details, whether it be in nature or in everyday life.  It inspires me to take notice in the details of nature or the everyday and the mundane, and reminds me that the items and details we sometimes take for granted will not always be around.  In the case of flowers, such beautiful textures and colors that will slowly fade and shrivel up and be forever gone from physicality, only remembered by a simple photograph. Others may not find this photo of a flower particularly interesting or important in the history of the world, but to me, because I know their story, I received them for Valentine's Day, they and the picture are special to me.

  In the case of seashells, I collected these while on the beach for vacation over Christmas break.  Had I not collected them, washed them, and displayed them as a memento of my vacation, the beautiful and unique seashells, once home to various creatures deep under the sea, would be forgotten on the beach, discarded by their former owners of the ocean.  They would wash back and forth with the waves of the sea, and slowly break down into the tiny grains of sand, no beautiful to the unaided eye.  Instead, they would be perceived as a tiny speak of sand.  But when looked at through the lens of a microscope, they are no less beautiful, just smaller, microscopic versions of their former selves.

  In many ways, I think that people have these same perceptions of others, especially older people...they may perceive them as old and shriveled, broken down and discarded by the world, when in reality, they each have a story, one must only take the time to "look through the microscope," take the time to listen and talk with them, hear their stories from days of old, and not take them for granted.  Life is short for flowers, for seashells, and even for people.  But by taking the time to reflect, document, and preserve the memories, the mementos and the stories behind them, they will not be forgotten.