One of my mentors, when I was still working full time, used to ding me for only “thinking outside of the box”. When what she really wanted of me was to was “throw away the box”.
Which got me to thinking. Why do mosaic’s have to be static? Why can’t they be dynamic? Properties of a static mosaic include repetitive patterns (pebbles, leaf cells, reptile scales, etc.) of different sizes that are grouped together. Three properties that can easily be applied to a dynamic mosaic.
Such as the attached image of similarly-shaped, repetitive, different-sized waves flowing across a shallow river bed. A “fluvial” mosaic taken of the North Fork of the American River at the Auburn SRA (State Recreation Area), California.
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So what do you think? Did I stray too far away from the mosaic definition “box”?
Pertinent Technical Details
1/5 sec at f/8.0, ISO 400, 195 mm. Camera mounted on a tripod.
Very cool! And original! And it definitely works for me as a mosaic.
I think your mentor had both a great attitude and a great student. I’m sure it’s because I’m old and crabby, but that sort of creative thinking (or any sort…) seems to be getting scarcer. I’m curious what kind of work you did.
Franz: I like the flow and textures. This would work better for me with a bit more contrast and color. At first glance I thought this was B&W but saw a hint of color. Perhaps my version is more inside the box but I’m kind of a conventional observer. Some might even say a fuddy duddy, but as Popeye the Sailor man said, “I yam what I yam.” >=))>
Every time I see a B&W photo the first thing that comes to my mind is “Why did the photographer throw away all the color?” I’ve been that way since as long as I can remember. That is to say, I totally relate to your reference to Popeye! [Even as far back as the early 1970’s, I was one of the few guys in my neighborhood that had a Dichroic color head on their Bessler 23C enlarger.]
I often gravitate towards a pastel/nuanced color palette when I’m in a more reflective mood at the time of image capture. In this case it was towards the end of a hectic day when I first had to step out of the car and take several dozen deep breaths - before even thinking about taking the tripod and camera gear out of the trunk.
But that doesn’t mean I never enjoy a riot of colors in one of my images. See, for example, the attached (ICM-like) abstract of a bush outside my front door.
