It's been said, "necessity is the mother of invention". No one knows exactly who said that but some site Mark Twain. That quote evolved from, of all people, Plato who said, "Our need will be the real creator".
I would like to further modify that and say limitation is the mother of invention or the real creator.
Often we think of limitations imposed on us by others (i.e. parents, authorities, governing bodies, social norms etc.) but there is another self imposed limitation and that is the direction I'm moving in with my image making. Before my camera work has always been shot in the 3:2/4:6 frame format and if I wanted something different I would crop that raw file before moving further in the editing phase.
I've decided to upend that by only shooting in 1:1 frame format. Yesterday and today were my first days limiting myself in this way. It's interesting how looking at the view screen and seeing only a square image changes how you think about seeing. In some ways it's changed my subject matter. In other ways it's changed how I photograph the same old subjects that I would photograph before in the more familiar landscape/portrait format. I'm still interested in the same things it's just that I am seeing them differently. And it's not like I see them one way and they deliberately change how I want to see them via cropping. I'm actually forcing myself to see them squared.
I don't know how long I'll do this but it will be for some length of time to see how this will change the way I see and perceive things over time as I get more used to this square format.
Todays images are of palms of my left and right hand. An abstract, inverted presentation that I find interesting. Again these images were shot square format /raw. Editing in Photoshop.
I don't know if the rest of the world has the problem we have in America. We are in an all out culture war. Tolerance has completely dissipated like water being poured on red hot steel.
I am sick at heart to see what has happened and continues to happen in my country. But it has to end. Personally I'm reverting back to unwokeness and shunning cancel culture.
You can be unwoke and not participate in cancel culture and still be a happy decent human being. Don't you want to be happy again? Are you tired of being woke? Do you want to be more tolerant of those who differ from you and have different opinions from you? Do you want to be more respectful? Then join me now. We can make a difference. We must be the change that we would like to see.
Like Eric Clapton sings in his new song - "THIS HAS GOTTA STOP" ... enough is enough... I can't take this BS any longer....
https://youtu.be/dNt4NIQ7FTA
Let's remind ourselves of Plato's Cave allegory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave
In our time the cave is made of the walls we have built around ourselves as we stare at the screens of our phones iPads or other portable devices and shut everything out around us. Things that keep us cooped up and blind to reality even though they do their best to try and convince us that what they are showing us is reality. These devices only project shadows on the wall that people believe to be real. And the more convinced people are that what they see on their devices is "real" the further the cords of bondage bind around them making harder to pull away. It's time to put the device down and look around to come out into the daylight and be human again. Come out of the Cave. It's glorious out here in reality. Sure it's not always pretty but it's REAL!
A great song and visual expression of this is in the song/video for A Perfect Circle's song DISILLUSIONED
"It's time to put the silicon obsession down" (if you dare)
https://youtu.be/BIsH686xWl0
... on being and becoming ... 