Boggett, David. Nakaragi Shrine, autumn maple trees in Nakaragi-no-mori. 20th century.
This image epitomizes the awestruck beauty of Mother Nature. The photographer captures all stages of coloration maple trees offer. This place is a Shinto shrine, in which the beautiful setting facilitates peace and tranquility for the sometimes chaotic mind. The various colors provide order and sequence, while the limb in the foreground give depth. It would seem impossible to look at this beautiful image and not forget the harsh perceptions humans invoke on themselves; the realities of human nature, the violence from news media, or the narrow-mindedness that usually plague human judgement. This image reminds us that you only need to step outside of whatever paradigm you may be stuck with and see what is truly around you.
An interesting choice. I think you need to beware of over-interpreting images like this one. And it is a hard picture to evaluate other than aesthetically since we really can't see anything of the shrine itself. Still we certainly can see that the photographer has framed the image carefully and selectively. But do we need more metadata, or more images taken at the site from different angles, to help us interpret what is shown here?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be necessary to have more information and/or other photos from the same place to help interpret this image. Without these things, it feels as though you can only give the photograph a personal meaning, particularly regarding the feelings it evokes, since it is such a beautiful image.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think about subject in this image, because it is described as the Nakaragi shrine, but you can't see it at all. This seems to make the frame or vantage point the most important aspects of the photo, and I'm left to wonder what the photographer truly intended to capture. Time is also an interesting factor, because like any photograph it is obviously capturing one moment in time, but the leaves being in different stages of color suggest a sort of timelessness as well.