IN SEARCH OF THE BEAUTIFUL
Grace Bergmann
In my early years of learning to capture better images, I remember reading about an old photography concept referred to as “The Beautiful”. The shortened definition is that there is one singular force acting as the source of all the beauty in the world. Everything in the world contains this force in varying quantities, meaning that every individual subject has a certain amount of The Beautiful in it. The responsibility of capturing The Beautiful in these things falls onto the shoulders of the photographer, who must find it in every plant, animal, human or inanimate object, no matter how much or little beauty it contains.
Despite the possibility that this concept may have deviated today from its original meaning, the essence remains the same. It is all about reminding the photographer to look for, discover and encapsulate the beauty of whatever is around them. The longer I have continued down my photography journey, the more variations of The Beautiful I have perceived. It is easy to capture in what is typically perceived as beautiful: flowers – don’t we all start with macro shots of them?! – and sunsets, models and artwork… But where finding The Beautiful is most rewarding, is in the fresh and unexpected. Now, living in Chicago, I can once again find The Beautiful in the new. I see the beauty of a shining new skyscraper next to weathered 100-year-old building, the beauty of newspapers in the wind, cigarette smoke, and brutalist buildings with spray paint. All are little scenes upon which humans have left their mark, as a sign of life. As evidence of The Beautiful in life.
This article first appeared in PRISMA, Issue 18.