My daughter’s school had their school show last week, called “Imagine a World”, and I got to photograph it. It was a musical featuring Beatles songs, and it was AMAZING. This school is a true community, where people work together to make a difference and to make art, and to make art that makes a difference! So much heart went into this show, from the teachers, the parents, and the children. I photographed behind the scenes as well as the performance and although the performance was wonderful, I think the behind the scenes photos really captured the magic of the show.
I’m drawn to behind the scenes photography, which is about the process, the “becoming” of something. I see more humanity, beauty and truth in moments that unfold without rehearsal than moments that are “performed”. It is important for us to witness these unrehearsed moments, to see them represented, to understand that we are not meant to be “perfect”. Behind a so-called “perfect” or polished performance, there are many “messy” moments – moments that may not look or feel as you want them to, moments that are unfinished, but are still beautiful because they vibrate with the immediacy of an idea, the spark of creativity, done for the first time. I like to think of them as sketches.
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Destined to evolve, a sketch leaves openings for change, for fluidity, for embracing the beauty of imperfection.
When I started writing this blog, I had an idea of what I wanted to write about but didn’t quite have the right name. I liked the idea of “imperfect” moments but wanted a different word than “imperfect”. I looked it up in the thesaurus and I was surprised by what I found – “deficient” “damaged” “junk” “immature” – so judgmental! It’s no wonder so many of us struggle with perfectionism. I am always working on embracing “imperfect” in my life, in my photography, in my business and allowing things to evolve, to iterate.
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When you strive for “perfect” you block the flow, you block learning and you block connection. Let your life be a rough draft.
