Tags
Alberta, beauty, black & white, Calgary, children, daughters, Diana Schwenk, Elbow River, Hump Day Chronicles, living in the moment, Stephen Avenue Mall, Tourist in my own city, ugly, walk
THIS PAST WEEKEND, I WENT OUT ON TWO LONG WALKS.
On Saturday, I headed north toward the downtown core. The phrase ‘Concrete Jungle’ entered my mind and I was inspired to take pictures of the things that aren’t so pretty. I chose to shoot in black & white as it seems more stark and cold when capturing ugly.
On Monday, I headed south toward the Elbow River. I haven’t been that way in a long time. One of my favourite thinking spots is at the Elbow River Park.
Once, when Michaela was little I brought her to the park. I was watching her from above as she threw little, smooth, white stones into the river down below. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw geese walking toward her, circling in on her. When they stretched out their necks, they were taller than Michaela!
“Stop throwing stones Michaela, the geese think it’s bread!”
Panic registered on her face when she noticed the birds approaching. I laughed nervously and raced down to scoop her up in my arms. To this day, Michaela is petrified of birds.
This weekend, I set out to find ugly. What struck me almost immediately, was how hard it is for me to see ugly. I naturally look for beauty and couldn’t help shooting it. Even when I managed to shoot ugly, I saw beauty. And when there was no beauty, I saw potential for it.
~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~
What do you see when you look?
Val Boyko said:
You have captured the good bad and ugly of city life! I love how your inner guide keeps you on the positive. 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
I am blessed in that way Val – thanks. I’ve been accused of seeing life through rose-coloured glasses. It’s not that I don’t see weaknesses or ugliness, but I quickly go to ‘What are the strengths? How can we maximize them? How can we mitigate this situation? Who can help with this?’
Diana xo
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When in New Places said:
A beautiful walk through Calgary, Diana. I think the pictures feel like they’re taken from someone who sees the beauty first and foremost. And the result is that they’re not all that ugly. You took little reflective pieces of commonly overlooked everyday images, which ended up feeling artsy and beautiful in my eyes. A very interesting post, well done!
~ Andrea ❤
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Andrea, it was fun to take the photos. ❤
Diana xo
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mrs fringe said:
Love these, Diana (and I’m a huge fan of black and white). When I go out with my camera, it’s often these little blips and bits that catch my eye, they tell such stories. 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
They do tell stories and I always enjoy the photos you take in the park!
Diana xo
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mrs fringe said:
🙂
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elizabeth2560 said:
I LOVE the black and white photos. It added to the theme of supposed ‘ugly’.
Here in Australia, we have plain cigarette packages with pictures of diseased lungs. It has cut down smoking rates enormously.
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Elizabeth. Maybe it’s just the commonwealth countries that have graphic pictures on cigarette packages!
Diana xo
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joannerambling said:
Oh I loved all these photos what a bloody great post
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Jo-Anne!
Diana xo
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Jennifer's Journal said:
I see a lot of beauty in your photos too! I bet the park is quite pretty in colour. 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Jennifer. There’s still quite a bit of brown in the park, but judging from the trees and shrubbery on my street, the park will be lush and green and full of flowers within a week! Maybe I’ll go back and do some colour shots then. 🙂
Diana xo
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Jennifer's Journal said:
Sounds like a nice follow up post to this one. 🙂
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markbialczak said:
I looked at your photos, in stark black and white, and thought, “not ugly.”
Until the cigarette pack.
I guess I look for beauty first, too, Diana. And I a glad that is so.
Thank you for the lesson on this Wednesday. And for the bird-and-stones tale about you and MIchaela, too.
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dianasschwenk said:
Thanks Mark. We are always under construction here in Calgary and that can be ugly, but from what I read in other posts, I guess that’s true of all cities.
You should see the host of images on cigarette packs here Mark, They are so ugly!
Diana xo
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Louise Gallagher said:
That’s because you are beauty — inside and out.
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dianasschwenk said:
You are so sweet Louise – thank you! HUGS! ❤
Diana xo
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bulldog said:
Everything has a certain beauty or entertainment to it… I can see the potential in a rubbish heap for the artistic of nature to go to town… .. and to be honest even your photos of rubbish look good… if you want to depict rubbish you must take rubbish photos not artistic ones like you’ve done here… I love your photos… (pity they’re in B&W, I prefer colour)
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dianasschwenk said:
In colour they looked prettier bulldog! Thanks for your kind words, means a lot coming from you!
Diana
xo
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sedge808 said:
Loving the bin 🙂
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dianasschwenk said:
I knew you would Gavin!
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