beautiful green earth
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sensuous enjoyment of the beautiful green earth, the beautiful sky and
sun; I felt them, they gave me inexpressible delight, as if they embraced
and poured out their love upon me. It was I who loved them, for my heart
was broader than the earth; it is broader now than even then, more thirsty
and desirous. After the sensuous enjoyment always come the thought, the
desire: That I might be like this; that I might have the inner meaning of the
sun, the light, the earth, the trees and grass, translated into some growth
of excellence in myself, both of the body and of mind; greater perfection
of physique, greater perfection of mind and soul; that I might be
higher in myself.
~Richard Jefferies
There’s a good reason that I shoot portraits rather than landscapes: because as my kids would so ineloquently say, I suck at landscapes. I’m really okay with this self-knowledge though, mainly because I understand why. But that doesn’t necessarily stop me from embarrassing myself by attempting to photograph a landscape every now and then, nor does it cause me to study the masters of this medium in hopes for improvement. Sometimes it’s nice just to appreciate the gifts that others possess without the need to personally own those gifts.
I can’t believe I haven’t before now shared the above quote by Richard Jeffries, since it’s such a favorite of mine. When out in nature, I’m never sorry for the way I’m so overly sensory oriented. I’m glad I feel so much…….grateful for these heightened senses, even if they do overwhelm me. It’s for this reason that I can’t adequately photograph nature. I’m so in awe that it renders me incapable of any productive action other than breathing it all in. It feels too big for me to contain, my senses too engaged, and the sensuousness of the air, the sky, the sun and the trees brings about a sort of hypnotic trance, which isn’t altogether helpful for paying attention to camera settings.
Happy Earth Day.
~Cynthia
