Imperfect doves

click photo to enlarge
"Where there is perfection there is no story to tell."
Ben Okri, Nigerian author (b.1951)

Perfection is over-rated, especially in the visual arts. It can be seductive, rather like the "hook" in a pop song, but it is usually something that we tire of after being exposed to it a few times. Too often it is predictable in its completeness and that ultimately makes for an unsatisfying experience. Imperfection, on the other hand, can succeed by hinting at the perfection that might have been. The flaw in something that mars the perfection frequently becomes the focus of the piece, the thing that makes it interesting.

I was thinking about this as I processed this photograph of a line of doves on the pinnacles of an ornate building in Seville. How much more perfect and much less satisfying would it have been if all the doves had the same pose and faced the same way, and all of the pinnacles had a bird perched on it. It would simply be a picture of stacked lines, each repeating the same motif across the frame. Thankfully nature, in the form of the doves, gave the shot the imperfection that made it a more interesting image.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo Title: White Doves, Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares, Seville
Camera: Olympus E-M10
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 150mm (300mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/1600 sec
ISO:200
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The pleasure of imperfection

click photo to enlarge

The fields of Lincolnshire are looking their cultivated, perfect best. Rows of cereals and vegetables are mathematically straight, weeds have been cowed into submission by tractors with spray booms, and leaves are of the deepest green following scientifically accurate applications of fertiliser. It all bodes well for a good harvest. But thankfully, in a corner here, a field there, things are not going quite as intended. The yellow and white heads of corn chamomile break up the uniformity in a few areas, and the sunshine flowers of last year's oilseed rape, guerilla plants that evaded the farmers herbicides, can be seen dotted about rising above the ears of wheat. Around field boundaries and headlands poppies have appeared, their seed having lain dormant for who knows how long. In one field that I came across an army of these redcoats was peering out over the wheat, asserting itself as June's traditional dash of scarlet.

There was a time when poppies glowed in many, if not most, cereals. But the advance of science in farming has all but ended that wonderful sight in many parts of England. Today there is no place for the uplifting spectacle that is a wheat field invaded by these scarlet battalions. So, when I saw the flowers in today's photograph, clustered and spread through about half of a crop of wheat I smiled and thought, "Isn't imperfection beautiful!", then scrambled down and up a deep ditch (getting stung by nettles in the process), stepped over a low fence, crouched low and grabbed my image.

I manage to get a photograph of wheat and poppies most years, though as with this one, it's invariably when I come upon them by chance, rather than by design. Previous examples, shot in more of a landscape mode, can be seen here and here. Incidentally, the title of today's piece was going to be "The beauty of imperfection", but that rang a small bell in my head, so I looked back through my posts and found that I'd used it in November 2008, when I blogged on the same theme, though from a different perspective.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5 Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The beauty of imperfection

click photo to enlarge
Perfection can be seductive. It can also be very boring. I frequently confuse women actresses and pop singers because so many modify their appearance to conform to a "type" that many men seem to find "perfect". You know the sort - slender, blond, full lips, smooth skin, symmetrical "doll-like" features. And, frankly, I find this look uninteresting.

The same applies to male actors and singers. The androgynous look is widely cultivated and equally dull and confusing. Or how about car styling? The recently revealed 4-seater Porsche seems to have elements of virtually every sports cars designed since the 1960s. In their quest for perfection the stylists have removed all traces of individuality from the body-shape. Quirks, flaws, imperfections, individuality, make - for me - more appealing looks and designs. In an earlier blog post I questioned whether the exterior appearance of Norman Foster's Swiss Re tower (the "Gherkin") in London is too perfect, visually facile, lacking an element that breaks into the simple shape and colours, and whether we'll soon tire of its easy appeal. Architects still make the mistake of excessive simplicity in the search for perfection. Many realised, early in the twentieth century, that introducing the random imperfections of trees and bushes in architectural drawings, and in actuality, improved people's appreciation of their buildings' smooth surfaces, repeated right-angles and shimmering curtain walls.

Similar reasoning can be applied to photographs. It's quite easy to take pictures of flawless subjects, particularly when depicting the man-made world, but the result is often unsatisfying. Today's photograph is a case in point. It shows a wall covered in blemish-free, brushed stainless steel tiles. The orientation of each is such that the wall has a lustrous chequerboard pattern. However, when I came to photograph it I looked for a position that allowed me to incorporate elements (particularly the shadows and reflected ceiling lights) that broke up the perfect surface. The paradox is that including the imperfections gives increased emphasis to the perfect finish, as well as adding interest to the overall composition.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Olympus E510
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 22mm (44mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 400
Exposure Compensation: -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On