quotidie: remarkably ordinary (february)

quotidie
032 : 2.01

it's been snowing tonight, and will be snowing some more tomorrow and later on in the week ahead.

i like the bright night effect. i like how the air is still and feels so clean after snowfall. i like how the snow piles up on something in perfect shape. and there's the feeling of snow between my fingers, soft and delicate like powder.

it started snowing when we were on our way to mass at around 6:25pm. we hadn't brought hats or anything, so we had to walk in the snow from the car to the church doors. liana went absolutely crazy, laughing and skipping and delighting in this gentle frozen rain.

upon reaching home again after mass, i got my camera and she put a coat on and she slid around. this is her twirling.


this month was made of snow, deadlines, an important realization in perception and a whole new level of ordinariness.

tonight i realize how significant each piece of this project is, each month changing the face of it. how will this month's photos contrast the next? how will it connect? does it mark the beginning of a trend, or an end of one?


lightpaintbrush at flickr

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?

so i'm three years late. but better to have found it now than never.

in light pursuit of inspiration for my art exam that's starting next week, i found this. what an amazing find.

i read some of the comments on the site where the video was originally posted, and experienced great realization.

can you imagine that this whole world we live in is in conflict just exactly as much as it has repressed creativity?

quotidie: remarkably ordinary (pilot week)

quotidie
pilot week
day 1

our aunt's house didn't have a Christmas tree, so the Christmas tree decorations went onto the lamps instead.

this photo speaks of nothing extravagant of a day that is celebrated worldwide, prepared for for months, sung about for centuries. this photo isn't a massive Christmas tree, or a sumptuous dinner laid out on a table with candles.

but it does speak of an extravagant spirit. it speaks of grandeur in small packages. of makeshift homes and the heart over circumstance.

it speaks of the Light that came into the world on this day: grandeur that came down as a baby and a cold stable turned cozy by spirits of faith.

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quotidie: remarkably ordinary
this is the beginning of my photo project that officially starts in a week: 2009.
just a photo a day. the title of the project is enough to explain its purpose.
please pray for this, because it's not easy for me to produce a photograph that i like, let alone produce one each day.

the pilot week exists for a few reasons:
1. because i was quite terrified anticipating the first of january and the beginning of my lesson in discipline and commitment to a self-initiated project, and
2. because i was equally excited and could not wait to begin.



lightpaintbrush at flickr

quotidie: remarkably ordinary (january)

quotidie
001: 1.01

this first day of the year went by rather sluggishly and void of inspiration. today is also my father's birthday. so when we reached the end of sutton high street, passing by almost all shops closed, thus leaving us with no hot scrumptious food that my mother had ideally planned... my mother was in despair. it enveloped her and it was difficult to withstand and definitely not a way to start the new year. long story short this day didn't go as planned at all. but it did end peacefully, watching The Family Stone on television and hot cocoa.

the year-end holiday season is the least accommodating for introspection, despite it being the most appropriate. family affairs of food and gatherings and travelling time leave little space for thought at the end of the day, what with us feeling full and exhausted and with too much noise in the immediate environment. the only time i was able to stop and reflect was before sleeping past 1am on the first day of the year, texting my best friend. or, scratch that, that term doesn't quite cut it (and it has bad memories tied to it anyway), what should i call you maisee?

i did not think much about the people that have come and gone,. i did not think much about the friendships i have lost, found, and restored. i did not think much of my own growth this year - although i think i've done a fair bit throughout, actually.

but i did think of This. This that fills the photograph. and i realize that everything else falls under It. falls into place because of It.

and i don't think there's any better way to start the year than to keep sight of the Light that is going to get us through it.

-

i took several shots of this, and managed to cut it down to just two. they were almost identical, except for the slight change in angle. this was chosen because He looks like He's looking up, or rising... instead of looking down.

so this is the year-long photo project that i've committed to for this year.

it started on december 25, 2008, to give me a week before the actual beginning, as a pilot week, album of which i will put up separately.

i did not dive into this with any structure except:
1. bring camera everywhere
2. take photos every day, completely regardless of weather or any other cirucmstance
3. write about it and put it up on flickr every day, completely regardless of weather or any other circumstance.


so far, it's been brilliant. this is truly one of the most fruitful things i've been led to do in my life so far. i never thought i could put up with getting a photo i was satisfied every single day, much less write at least one paragraph about it.

but here it is, 31 photos for each day of the month of january, all with at least a paragraph - in the description of each photo, so it would be nice to go through them one by one if you're interested :) - woven as an integral part of each photograph.


lightpaintbrush at flickr