Senseless Acts of Beauty (2011)
What I’ve discovered in 50 days: Beauty is everywhere. Beauty is not senseless; it comes in many forms and delights all the senses. In its purest form, beauty is simple. My conception of beauty may not be yours.
This series grew from a documentary project that I dreamt up over the years. Weary of media channels that feed us sensationalist images of destruction and hopelessness, I’ve often wondered how our world might be different if the media incorporated more kindness, beauty and hope. What if images and videos delighted and encouraged the collective imagination rather than intimidated and subdued it. Thus the idea for the “Not-so-Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty” project was born.
I decided to begin my experimentation with this idea during the 50-50 Show III and narrowed my focus to simple, senseless acts of beauty in the world around me. With my camera at my side, I spent 50 days looking for beautiful images in California and Costa Rica. I let chance guide me on many mini-adventures. Looking for beauty, my perspective shifted. Every day was an opportunity to something new and wonderful. I woke up a bit lighter with this simple mission in my heart.
To add another level of senselessness to the series, I narrowed my edits down to 100 images and from those chose the 50 final images, as well as their placement in the 7 x 7 grid, at random.
Eventually, I’d like to take this project further, broaden the scope and audience, and make it collaborative to incorporate multiple viewpoints.
