Contemplating Water

Aryaloka Buddhist Center, Newmarket, NH

The Earth, Water, Fire Exhibit of my contemplative photography is on display at Aryaloka Buddhist Center from Oct. 5 - Nov. 14, 2012.   I will be speaking about my work at the center on Nov. 11 at 6 pm.  This post is part of a series of musings on the elements as I have expressed them in my art.

Ripple - 2007

The element water has always been a fascination of mine, possibly because I am a Scorpio, which astrologically is a fixed water sign. In the Buddhist mandala of elements, I identify with the clarity of the Vajra family, which is connected with water.   People often comment about my clarity of expression and I am known to get angry and self-righteous when I get too solid in my opinions.  Both are qualities of this family.

Fall Reflection - 2012

 
Yet water offers a wealth of other qualities.  It is the most adaptable of elements taking the shape of whatever contains it.  It can be as solid as ice or ethereal as mist, capable of great destruction in minutes as a tsunami or slow penetration as drops cutting through stone over eons.  Water cleanses and binds together solids, while keeping them flexible. Water as saliva makes taste possible.  Our body mass is 80% water, as blood and other bodily fluids.  Water energy is what facilitates communication as we speak of the flow of ideas, commerce or emotions. 

Snow,Drop,Mist - 2011

I have been fascinated with documenting the many faces of water as a photographer and videographer.  With so many moods, I find myself mesmerized by its ever changing nature.  We live near a creek and less than a half hour from the ocean, which gives me plenty of opportunity to explore natural bodies of water visually.  My husband loves to go canoeing and I will often bring my camera on our excursions.  "Loon" is an example of a single take video created from the canoe.  Guy smoothly paddled while I shot the footage.  A fellow grad student, Brian deAngelo composed the soundtrack.

The exhibit at Aryaloka shows just a small sample of the hundreds of images I have taken of water over the years.  You can see more at: www.rebekahyounger.com 

First Canoe Ride of the Year

Spring is finally here! This video was taken on our first canoe ride of the year. Now with my trusty digital audio recorder I am adding more sounds to my videos. The soundtrack for this video is of peepers who rule the evening airwaves around our house in the spring. Night Ripple is the title of this video short. Enjoy!
The water levels have been particularly high ( just short of flood stage) with the spring rains, in part due to the rapid melt off with our warm sprig weather. While this is troubling to those folks in low lying areas, it has meant we could travel much further up our local creek with the canoe, floating over submerged fallen trees, beaver dams and other debris which normally would block our path. With a sense of adventure we paddled into new territory seeking new vistas to explore.

Reflected Water and Light

I have been recording video of water reflections and water's movement and these are just a few snippets that will be expanded into an installation exploring the phenomenal experience of water

Rounding the Bend - one of several videos taken of a canoe ride near our home. This video is 1 minute and 8 seconds long - I have compressed the file for web viewing, but prefer the full size version as it gives better definition to the ripples on the water, a major feature of these pieces. It is my intention to combine these images with images of streams, waterfalls and ripples on the ocean that I have already recorded to create an environmental exhibit with multiple projections happening at random intervals in a walled space with seating. The viewer would be encouraged to take in the imagery at an intimate level, preferrably close to lifesize, and enjoy the melodies of the water sounds along with the movement of reflections, water and light created by the videos.

Here are two more of the videos from this trip.




Ripple Effect- 1 minute and 6 sec




Rippling Trees - 50 seconds This video has a choppy cut about half way in due in part to the compression. I do however, hope to do better when I get more advanced editing software to work with these pieces.

This last piece is quite sloooowww, as it was intended. So settle back and see if you can discern the subtle movement of light and color. The movement was in real time. If you wish to see a speeded up version for those impatient souls, just move the slider and you will indeed see movement.




Prism Light - 4 minutes and 22 seconds

Canoe Ride

Here is a 2 minute 10 second experience of a journey on the water.
Cast of Characters
Water ----- Eastern Point Harbor, Frenchman's Bay, Maine
Canoe ------ "Sawdust" hand built Sassafras 14 canoe by Guy Marsden
Mountain --- Mt. Cadillac in Acadia National Park
Feet -------- Rebekah Younger


This footage may be destined for another peep show experience, not sure yet on what surface.

Additional footage was taken of the tidal waters and the dance of seaweed and other objects with rise of the waters.

Enjoy!
Becky