Wabi-sabi: Why Art is Imperfection

This image that I captured on a Digital Leica M9 taught me a great deal about art. At the time I was living in Surry England and a few minutes drive from my home was the Windsor Great Park.  For a photographer, having such an amazing place a stone's throw from my front door was paradise. I loved living in England...hated the taxes but loved the place.

Back to my image....I went to Windsor Great Park one grey day (most days are indeed grey there) and managed to work my way to some ancient Roman ruins, originally from Libya that were gifted to England and ended up being placed in this park.  While looking for a new angle it began to rain.

As you can see in the picture below, there is a tunnel at one end of the ruins where I ducked into, so as to avoid the rain. Then I waiting with a group of like minded, rain avoiding, people.  You can see in the image above the soaked ground that surrounded us. Then I saw this lady walking with a bright red umbrella and I was amazed at what an amazing image it could make.

I grabbed my camera and began shooting.  The problem was that it was not perfect. You see the umbrella, while a wonderful red color, had some propaganda on it in bright white letters. The lady was not alone, she had her son with her.  So the moody picture that could have been was ruined by media print and with an even number of subjects. 

I quickly got home, and used Photoshop to create the image that I really wanted to have taken. I wanted color, I wanted the lady to be alone and I needed all that white lettering removed from the umbrella. So I manufactured the shot below.  It is a composite of two images that I took, I removed the kid, I removed the lettering and voila I had the image I had pictured in my mind....I had ART!

I hated the image.  Each time I looked at it I saw my Photoshop skills.  I remembered the frustration that I felt that day as the world would not give me what I wanted.  I spent a great deal of time thinking of this image.  I then realized that the image was far too perfect and became a poor imitation of the scene.  

As with most creative pursuits, we assume that we are traveling a unique journey but we are not. What we have learned has been learned and taught be others before us. We can learn allot by lifting our heads and asking the questions that bother us. Had I done this I would have learned allot more, allot faster.  But I had to pursue my own journey and it was only years later, that I heard of Wabi-sabi.  

Wikipedia: 
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. It is prevalent in many forms of Japanese art.

Since this shot, I have tried to limit my intervention in the image. I add contrast, I darken and lighten as needed, and will crop an image to improve composition.  I don't have a list of hard rules but have instead taken a moment, before editing, to ask why.  And take the time to see the image for the beauty that is there.

Below is an interesting example. The first image is the one I wanted to capture. You can see where the bike rider is, this is the first shot in the series. I cropped out some action that was happening on the right of the man with an umbrella.

This is the image I wanted to have. The man is looking straight at me, he is separated from the bike rider, and no one else is on the street.  He is caught in mid stride as he walks towards me. The classic house int he background, wet pavement and confident gait of a young man is what I wanted to capture.  Below is taken a second later without cropping...

Clearly he is no longer alone, his gait is now changed, the bike rider is farther along.  There is a story in either image. My search for what I wanted to capture is in the first. In the second I captured what was there.  

The understanding I have thus far come to is the following.  Edit as little as possible.  Find the beauty that is there instead of manufacturing your own. The world is an amazing place all you need to do is see it.