Wabi-Sabi

Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese concept of flawed beauty. This quality can give an object more interest and encourages an unhurried viewing.

These trees are crafted in-camera, using long exposures and light painting in a dark room. I carefully move and illuminate my arms and fingers to create the shapes of trunk, texture, and branches. Using this process means the trees can never be perfect, much like a real bonsai tree never fully reaches perfection.

To achieve the desired detail in the tree, it is shot as six photos. As they come together as one, gold is used to fill the remaining gaps. This is in the spirit of Kintsugi - the Japanese tradition of using gold to fill the cracks of broken pottery. This enhances flaws rather than hiding them. In the end, the intention is to create flawed beauty while demonstrating contrast between organic and geometric; light and dark.

This project is ongoing.