Photo Journal - 001 - Moths, Gran's Old Jewelry & Tarot Cards

Greetings from North West, South Africa!

As a person who often struggles to put my thoughts and feelings into words, I am extremely drawn to art as a means of expression and communication. It doesn't matter if it is found in the lyrics of a song, the strokes of a brush or pencil or through the lens of a camera, I just crave art in any and many forms.
It shouldn't, however, be just a pretty image, shape or sound...I mean, that is nice and all, but what I really want to see, and hopefully someday also be able to create are the kinds of things that have something to say.
Things that speak to you on a deep and profound level.
This post will be the first of more than a few, possibly spread few and far apart as I work my way up to this overly ambitious goal of mine.

For the time being, I will settle for just getting started, as it is impossible to learn and create amazing art if you don't get through your first clumsy and crappy attempts.
These are mine, they aren't perfect by any means but I wont criticize or defend them just yet. So here they are, proof of just how much I still need to learn, but a start at least.

I used jewelry from my grandmother's old jewelry box, a few tarot cards and a bunch of silkworm moths (they had died in their container during the night, after laying a bunch of eggs all over the place.)
Although I feel the theme is a bit obvious, I still liked wanted to attempt it.

I chose the 'Death, Tower, and Hermit' cards to represent death as part of the cycle of life and rebirth and the wisdom you can gain from going through, and eventually healing from these experiences as it was a topic that had been weighing on my mind recently.

Gran's favourite necklace, a cross shaped watch on a long silver chain. She liked to wear this to church and sometimes on special occasions.

A Cameo style brooch that my gran never wore but always let me look at (but never touch) as a child. I have always thought that it is quite beautiful.

Even though some people do not like these cards, I still believe that they can be a very useful self help tool, if used right. The strong imagery on some of them also makes for interesting photos.

Well, that's it for my first serious attempt at getting back into the swing of things. Hopefully I did not ramble on too much or make too many mistakes in editing and preparing these photos. I hope to soon have my camera up and running and plan on asking a photographer friend for a LOT of advice and tips soon, so hopefully the next photo post will show some progress and improvement.

Till next time!

Credits: All photos are my own, taken using Samsung A33 camera
Editing done on Adobe Photoshop
Banner Created using Adobe express

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I love what you've done here 😍

What you describe as clumsy and crappy first attempts is still way better than I could do ! I guess each of us has our own medium, and this is clearly one where you've got talent. While there are some ways to make them even better, you have most definitely conveyed a strong message with a serious amount of symbolism. Very Gothic 😁

If you want some constructive criticism (and it's only minor, so please don't take it the wrong way !), I'd say to check the backdrop before taking the photo and remove all the odd strands of fluff and lint. But apart from that, keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing how it develops !

Thank you! Gothic is definitely what I was going for. 😃

Haha, I'll keep that in mind! The stuff in the background is actually cat hair, will probably set up my backdrop somewhere where the cats won't make me stop and cuddle them next time. 🤣
Thanks for the comment, hope you'll have an awesome day.

I hear ya about the cat hair ! It gets everywhere. We've always said that if we collected it all up there would be enough to knit a winter jumper, or at least a decent sized scarf 😀

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