KNOW ME WABI SABI
KNOW ME is an 8X6 limited edition, signed print. It was made by blowing up, fiddling with, and coloring a found 1950s (?) photobooth image of an unknown woman holding a sign. It says KNOW ME. I found it poignant. And the smile! Pure joy. The Japanese characters for wabi sabi were added on the upper left. Basically isn’t KNOW ME what most photos subliminally say, even in this hard-boiled era of the internet selfie.
My ongoing wabi-sabi project uses found b&w photos in less than perfect condition: tintypes, snapshots, cabinet cards, etc. I leave all original damages: writing, scotch tape, or marks on the found photo. Wabi-sabi is an ancient Japanese aesthetic that values the imperfect, the handmade and the simple. It finds beauty in things impermanent, and incomplete. It celebrates the flawed beauty that comes with age, and the rough wear and tear of life.
Richard Powell, a wabi-sabi scholar, wrote, "Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.”
My ongoing wabi-sabi project uses found b&w photos in less than perfect condition: tintypes, snapshots, cabinet cards, etc. I leave all original damages: writing, scotch tape, or marks on the found photo. Wabi-sabi is an ancient Japanese aesthetic that values the imperfect, the handmade and the simple. It finds beauty in things impermanent, and incomplete. It celebrates the flawed beauty that comes with age, and the rough wear and tear of life.
Richard Powell, a wabi-sabi scholar, wrote, "Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.”