Project #1 Thesis Statement

This body of photographs focuses on the representation of the under appreciated, but beautiful aspects of life that surround us. In the small things that we tend to ignore on a daily basis, there can also be a great beauty, and a chance for artistic expression. In the words of George Maciunas, a founder of the Fluxus movement, these photos are "simple, amusing, and concerned with insignificances." In a sense, these photos are also lomographic, in that they attempt to capture "the beating pulse of life itself" by using "strange angles, abrupt foreshortenings and raw, unexpected details that come from trusting in chance." In addition, I have included a few quotes from variety of people, engaged in fields ranging from physics to philosophy, who seem to appreciate the beauty of simplicity. With these photos and these quotations, it is my intention to represent and appreciate the insignificant aspects of reality.

I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for the form of an object, be what it may, will always be made beautiful by light, shade, and perspective.
- John Constable, English landscape painter, 1776 - 1837

 

 

Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.
- Cicero, 106 BC - 43 BC

 

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
- Albert Einstein, 1879 - 1955

 

 

Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity…
- Lao-tzu, 604 BC - 531 BC

 

 

 

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
- Aristotle, 384 BC - 322 BC

 

 

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.
- Aldous Huxley, 1894 - 1963