Next Meeting: Monday, March 22, 6:00 pm, online only

PLEASE NOTE: Due to continued COVID related protocols for Nevada County, meetings are online only until further notice. Club Members will receive an email with directions and a link for accessing the meeting via Zoom, a videoconferencing app.  Following the meeting, a video will be made publicly available on YouTube. Thank you for your understanding.

 Lisa Cuchara: Wabi-Sabi: Finding Beauty in Photographing Imperfect Subjects

 This program will explore the beauty of imperfect and/or unconventional subjects. As nature photographers we often seek out the flowers, leaves and such that are perfect, with no blemishes or defects. This program highlights subjects that are not perfect, such as flowers that have character, double headed flowers, decaying fall leaves, the deformed coneflower that stands out as flawed and hence different and beautiful, rust as it creates abstract patterns amidst the decay, etc. We will also explore the concept of slowing down and appreciating the beauty of everyday life, things that might be overlooked. As purveyors of rust and decay we appreciate the perseverance and beauty of “life after humans” as cars and equipment falls apart and succumbs to oxidation and decay. Wabi-Sabi teaches us to find beauty in everyday life. It is a kind of anti-aesthetic, an alternative to the dominating discriminatory ideas we hold about beauty. “Wabi means a beauty of elegant imperfection. Sabi means aloneness. Together, they suggest the beauty of ‘the withered, weathered, tarnished, scarred, intimate, coarse, earthly, evanescent, tentative, ephemeral.’ ~ Crispin Sartwell, Six Names of Beauty. It is a way of honoring that everything is impermanent, and we are always in a state of both becoming and falling away. It is used to describe a particular philosophy that beauty can be found in the old, the everyday, the imperfect. Wabi Sabi applies to more than nature and the seasons of change and decay, but it also to the “Life after Humans” arena or UrbEx (urban exploration). As a side note, the term Wabi Sabi can also be part of the social movement of embracing imperfection of your physical traits as a human being, especially with respect to self-perception and celebrating imperfection in a society that encourages people to be perfect and pressures people to be flawless. https://www.photographybylisaandtom.com

Lisa Cuchara, PhD, Master Craftsman (PPA), Master of Photography (M. Photog.) HonNEC is very passionate about photography and enjoys both being behind the lens and in the digital darkroom. She loves to photograph nature but finds many subjects equally intriguing. Lisa and her husband Tom are known for their expertise in Photography and in Photoshop, and for their inspirational and informative photography workshops. Lisa has created numerous award-winning photographic images and enjoys sharing her vision, passion and her knowledge! Her photographs have appeared in Adirondack Life, Wild Bird, Birder’s World, in calendars, on the cover of a fictional paperback novel, in galleries and exhibitions, and been accepted into the PPA loan collection. Lisa & Tom have published two books with Amherst Media “Create Fine Art Photographs from Historic Places and Rusty Things” and “The Frog Whisperer”. Check out Lisa and Tom and their photography classes, photo tours and workshops at www.photographybylisaandtom.com.

Meetings are held the fourth Monday of every month, except for the month of December.  If held in person, meetings are at the Unity in the Gold Country Church, 180 Cambridge Ct., Grass Valley, CA.