Heroes Not Zombies

Years ago I took this photo in Italy and I’ve just rediscovered it while browsing  old Flickr files. I always loved how this very old glass gave a totally different experience from modern “blemish free” glass. In fact, I don’t see these swirls and waves within the glass as “blemishes” at all. They seem like an enhancement, a feature, even, which adds to the beauty of the glass.

This works for me at two different levels. It draws your attention to the glass itself. You know it’s been created by a human hand (as opposed to having been manufactured in a factory with machines). I suspect the Japanese would call this “wabi sabi”, so-called “imperfections” which hint at the craftsman or woman who created it with their hands. It makes it utterly unique. Like no other pane of glass.

But it also works a bit like the fairground magic mirrors, altering the image which passes through the glass. In fact, this makes the image quite dynamic. Every small movement of your head, or of your position, changes the image of the courtyard outside.

That changing image, altered by each slight shift of perspective reminds me of how all of life is like that, how everything we see, hear, touch, taste or smell is influenced by that ever changing blend of contexts and subject.

We bring our selves to every experience, and, in so doing, reveal certain connections, as well as experiencing something utterly unique.

Here’s another old photo. This time taken in Scotland.

This is Loch Garry, and if you are familiar with the shape of Scotland, you’ll look at this and immediately see the outline shape of the country.

If you aren’t familiar with the shape of Scotland, you wouldn’t notice that connection.

These are things we don’t think about much as we live our everyday lives, but, sometimes, something just really strikes us, and we become aware, for a little while, of the role of our subjectivity, the importance of contexts and environments, and how different perspectives create different experiences.

Both of these images do all of that for me. They give me a moment when I become aware of a bit more of the vast web of interconnectedness of all that exists.