Project Athena - Day 3 (Negative Space)

Negative Space or Background?

“The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.”
— Pablo Picasso

I have been confused as of late about what constitutes "negative space" and what is just background. One of my teachers pointed out that negative space is actually part of the design or the image you are making whereas background just happens to be there and does nothing to really enhance the image.

"Hmmm...I see," she said aloud but still not quite getting it.  She then let her thoughts drift to wishing that her tripod was not malfunctioning after hiking a mile to find the perfect cactus flower.

Cactus Flower

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 55-200mm lens • 200mm • F/5.6 • 1/320s • ISO 800

Project Athena - Day 2 (Negative Space)

Learning to Use Negative Space.

“You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.”
— Navajo Proverb

I love my beaded Navajo medicine pouch. Maybe it is the mandala....maybe it is the colors....maybe it is the love that was put into its creation.

Arranging it on top of this rabbit fur to get the most out of my negative space was both fun and a test in patience.

Smiling.

Beaded Navajo Mandala

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 55-200mm lens • 116mm • F/8 • 1/3s • ISO 400

Project Athena - Day 1 (Negative Space)

Welcome to the Launch of Project Athena!

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
— Rumi

Negative Space is a beautiful theme and metaphor to launch Project Athena. It is so often in life that I do not recognize the abundance, love, happiness, and gifts that are already here until I move my focus from the noise surrounding me (the negative space) to the love that my heart is truly experiencing (the positive space.) In other words, sometimes, negative space helps define and emphasize the positive space in my life.

In a photograph or design, negative space provides "breathing room". It gives my eyes somewhere to rest and allows my mind to relax by eliminating unnecessary clutter.

All of this adds up to a more interesting life and more compelling composition.

Smile. See the world in a new way.

 

The remnants of a warm, smooth Bhakti Chai on a cold and rainy day in Colorado

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 55mm • F/8 • 1/60s • ISO 100 (built in flash)