" The artist's world is limitless.
It can be found anywhere, far
from where he lives or a few
feet away. It is always
on his doorstep."
Paul Strand
In a recent post, "In Praise of a Leaf", I spoke about a book I recently got, The Garden at Orgeval. Paul Strand lived out the last 20 or so years of his life in the small village of Orgeval, 20 miles from Paris. No longer traveling the world, Strand focused his camera lens on the intimate confines of his garden. This quote is used as an introduction to the lovely and intimate nature studies in the book and its message has even more meaning to me as I face the possibility that extensive over-seas travel will get more and more difficult in the years ahead. It is an idea that those who love photography but may lack the resources to make extensive travel possible will find heartening. In my post, Photographing the Familiar, I mention Dorothy, from the Wizard of Oz. No need to go looking for your heart's desire beyond your own backyard. I will also throw in a quote from one of my favorite transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson which seems to compliment the Stand quote... "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." The "beautiful" can be as close as your own back yard.
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