Wabi-Sabi - Photo School by Jana Mänz

Wabi-Sabi Photo School
The Beauty of Photography
(Deutsch-English)
Wabi-Sabi is a japanese philosophic and aesthetic concept which has touched us in a deep way. With the help of our co-author, japanese artist Natsuko Horinouchi-Podzimek, we created an ebook on how we can avail ourselfes of the aesthetics of Wabi-Sabi for our photography.

We see Wabi-Sabi as a way for us european photographers to free ourself from the honey trap technology and perfection-mania set up for us. In Wabi-Sabi, there is room for “mistakes”. The most important in Wabi-Sabi is not the perfect photograph but the expression and depth of the image. On the contrary! It is especially the absence of perfection – e.g. the light flares, the blurs, the haziness, the deep shadows – that transforms a prosaic photography into poetry. At the same time the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi is characterized by reduction, modesty, and a symbiotic relationship to nature. There is a truth behind Wabi-Sabi we always yearned to find in photography.

In our e-Book “Wabi-Sabi – The beauty of photography” we show you how this concept can help you finding your very own way of photography which is characterized by more depth, substance, and emotions. Photography is more than just technology and fancy gadgets. We are convinced, that photography is pure passion, inspiration, and a wonderful way to express our emotions. So let yourself be inspired by the philosophy of an ancient culture. Find your very own photographic style with the help of our photographic exercises. Free yourself and be the artist you always wanted to be!



Content
Introduction of Natsuko as an artist
Foreword

Introduction
Wabi-Sabi and the taste of snow
The Origin of Wabi-Sabi
The Aesthetics of Yūgen
Correspondence: Wabi-Sabi Photography in Japan
Photographer Kimura Yousuke 木村洋介
Photographer Takashi Kaneko 兼子 隆
Wabi-Sabi Philosophy in Photography
Wabi-Sabi-Photo-Exercises
Summary
Conclusion