Shutter Sisters

the beauty of the mundane

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“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous.”   – B. Moyers

mun*dane–  1. everyday, ordinary, commonplace,  or banal

I am never sure when an opportunity might arise to take a photo, this is why i carry my camera always. Winter in New England equals a very dirty car.  Yesterday, by the urging of my 4 year old in the back seat, I took my filthy car to the car wash. Camera by my side in the front seat, I paid for our wash and drove in.  The door closed and the wash began.  I was instantly drawn to the designs on the windshield.  I picked up my camera and began snapping a few shots.  This was my favorite.  Even though I know it is an ordinary moment in the mundane task of washing my car, the image goes beyond that for me.  I see serenity in the droplets and little streams,  I love the blur of the garage door beyond the windshield. I believe finding beauty in the mundane is a gift given to me through photography. It helps me see beyond the tedium.

Washing dishes, folding laundry, cooking, hanging wash.

What beauty have you found in the mundane? Share some with us here today.

Comments

  3. Oh, wow, your comments remind me so much of the book, "Hand Wash Cold: Instructions For an Ordinary Life". I'm loving it. We must find value in the mundane, because that is where true serenity lies.

    Billy Joel says it well, too: “The joy of life is made up of obscure and seemingly mundane victories that gives us our own small satisfactions.”

  7. so true, oh so true. our lenses help us -inspire us- to look beyond the tedium, the banal… to seek out some magic, to be open to finding beauty in the must unsuspected places! thanks for including my clothesline pic, kristin! here are a couple of other stumbled-upon moments captured while taking perfectly mundane strolls down perfectly mundane streets 😉
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4976531120/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessa_r/4931879890/
    oh and i believe i haven't said this here yet: happy new year, sisters! xoxo

  21. Today we are quiet in the mundane. Remembering last year's tragic earthquake, so strong we felt it across the waters. http://somethingblu.wordpress.com/2011/01/12/more-love-for-haitiheart-meditationsfrom-the-rock/

    More beauty in the mundane here: http://somethingblu.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/inspiration-the-inner-laundry-sanctumfrom-the-rock/

    daily chronicles: http://somethingblu.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/daily-chronicles/

    and here: http://somethingblu.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/ode-to-moms-housewives-more-truth-from-the-rock/

    some every day Jamaican market beauty: http://somethingblu.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/push-cart-madness-from-the-rock/

  47. I've recently found myself influenced by some of my contacts who seem to make poetry out of the mundane every day. Erika & Jessica I'm talking about you. Just yesterday I started realizing I was picking up my camera at times I normally wouldn't, and I am enjoying and seeing something new through my lens.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/22487105@N06/5351000110/

  58. I have been a silent but assiduous viewer for the past few months.

    I just wanted to thank all of you Shutter Sisters for bringing so much beauty into my humble eyes 🙂