Heaven's flowers
Can be picked as well...
‘Carefully!’,
because they are fragile too. Fortunately, unlike earthly blooms, they don’t wither. Heaven’s flowers stay with us forever. Regrettably, we often forget their presence, much like a meadow full of flowers but concealed beneath a carpet of grass. Yet, in moments unanticipated, we may become aware of the exquisite beauty of a heavenly flower through a color, an odor or maybe even a flower on earth. And like the flower rises up towards the sun, this encounter lets us travel to a blissful realm where everything is pure, colorful and in balance.
After we ground ourselves on the earth again, we see flowers everywhere on the side of our roads and, perhaps, even in the skies.
All flowers yearn for your attention. They invite you:
‘Look at me.
Go towards my center!’
Guided by the fragrance of this call we surrender and get lost in each micro-cosmos, journeying to the heart of the flowers, and also to our own. Once arrived, we will bask in the sweet nectar the Heaven’s flower offers.
As we put earthly flowers on the table on ordinary days or use them on specific important events in our life, like birth and death, similarly we can use Heaven’s flowers in any circumstance. We pick the ones that attract us at the very moment.
Heaven’s flowers explore the innermost truths and talents residing in the seed of our being, often obscured by confusions, constant changes. Through reflection and introspection we (re)discover our Heaven’s flowers. Each photograph is a testament to the enduring beauty that lies within us, waiting to bloom and share their wonder with the world.
Travel through a universe full of photographic mandalas
Technique
This art project consists of photographic mandalas. In the process, I engage in an unique technique wherein I open and close the shutter of the camera eight times. With each subsequent re-exposure I let the light fall on the same picture again, so that inside the camera eight exposures are merged into one photograph.
Between each exposure I rotate the camera ±45 degrees around its own axis, while continuously focusing on a single focal point.
In nature, pure symmetry is normally not present. The same applies to this footage. Between each re-exposure there is a short period of time during which the situation is changing: the river keeps on flowing, the flower sways in the wind, the duck dives under water. I also take the photo by hand so the angle degree is never exactly 45 degrees.
The results of these small variations still surprise me. Just like in life many events happen in patterns, yet are slightly different every time.
In the video montage I meticulously position each picture in the center of the next fitting picture. Subsequently I apply a consistent and captivating spiral zoom movement that seamlessly transports the viewer from one frame to the next.
Heaven’s flowers photographs are taken during my hitchhiking adventures all over the globe, reflecting the always present beauty of life, colors, shapes, water, earth and sky.
