Sunset in Paris

 

The above image is flawed.  The flaws are subtle but I know they're there.  It started when I changed Yhishie's outfit into a random one after taking the Day of the Dead / Zara picture.  Looking closely at her face, I seen that there was a very faint leaf design. It was actually from a tattoo makeup set from Miamai called Silvana.  It is a very vibrant set of makeup all in a wonderful profusion of fall colours.  But there is also an additional layer that is just the texture which makes the skin almost look like it's been etched with a leaf design. I thought it very delicate and beautiful.  With the shape having such a fragile look to it and with the leaf design making it look almost scarred it just made me think of one word: vulnerable.  

And while I was taking this photo, I thought, "Wow, the styling, lighting, pose and everything is coming together very well!" And then I went to post it to Flickr without thinking.  And that's when I noticed the flaws.  I was able to crop most of them out but if you look very closely you can still see what the problems are. I thought for a moment to delete, retake the photo and resubmit it but I stopped and thought, "No,  I am going to let this stand because even if it is flawed, it's still beautiful."

We all seem to be afraid of flaws, especially in photography and edit out any imperfections to get things perfect.  I've always said that in an online setting everything can be perfect but it can never be real.  And in real life, things can be real but will never be perfect. Maybe we hate showing flaws so much because we want perfection and know things will never be that way.  This is especially true in online social media platforms where everyone curates their images and thoughts to portray only a certain image in order to be socially accepted.  We don't want to make a mistake.  

It takes a great deal of courage to show one's flaws, to say, "I made a mistake." or "I did the wrong thing here."  But in the real world - we don't have an edit program to make things different to edit out the wrong thing as though it never happened.  We can only accept ourselves for who and what we are and love ourselves for the good that exists within us.  And then acknowledge that even with the flaws - things will still be alright and work out the way they're supposed to.

Perhaps all this is too deep for a Monday morning.   But what can I say?  I've had coffee....