looking into the mirror
until one becomes another
at the window gazing
until one becomes another
at the window gazing
white pure white
the snow has fallen
silver hidden within silver
self nestled into self
the snow has fallen
silver hidden within silver
self nestled into self
note:
after Akahito's poem:
Coming out
from Tago's nestled cove
i gaze:
white, pure white,
the snow has fallen
on Fuji's lofty peak.
..
so much beautiful......................
ReplyDeleteAnd how is it you simply get stronger.
ReplyDeleteWell, Roxana. I can only speak for me personally. The series of progressive manipulations of an idea is nice. I've often thought of photocopying a picture of myself and then photo copying that over and over and so on, until my image degraded and dissolved into an inky mess. At that point I would be my own Rorschach.
ReplyDeleteWith all that said and done, my favorite image here is the first one. The way the left side of your face falls into shadow. As for mirrors, when I look in one, I always seem more lop-sided than I thought. I return to the first image. I think that is the one your poem best speaks of.
Sophrosyne, the soundness of a pure white soul in quadruplicate, oh dearest...
ReplyDeletePS. Actually, looking back, maybe it is the second one. Because of the shadow, and a certain posture of confidence in that.
ReplyDeleteevolving and revolving
ReplyDeleteI relate to this
dreams are our mirrors
white is full of loud silences
warm in my heart for you,
Dianne
ah bonjour chère magnifique Roxana,I am glad that you are enjoying the snow kisses.I can't send any other kisses right now-I am so so surrounded by layers and layers of snow.It defines my layers of personality it defines my days these days.I quite feel like an eskimo haha. but springtime will come and the kisses will warm up lol.
ReplyDeletethankyou for another beautiful masterpeice.
on the photograph I see the scratches the indecipeherable scratches of the soul through the abstractions of ancestral loops and snow traces the self hidden under many silver moonlit nights to quote the word silver of layered silvered dreams and the impossible covering of snow traces.the complexity of the dream of the self is beautiful.
is this beautiful lady you or metaphorically you or must it remain a mystery?to you and the viewer.
sending you more ticklish *snow kisses* until the next day and I do hope they don't all melt. when I return to the bridge because one visit of a post on the bridge is never enough to fathom this deep beauty.
oh and also chère Roxana, I too see a new way at times from having written on the bridge.
ReplyDeleteFor example on the last post I focused also on the emptiness and hurt of rejecting someone, which is often overlooked in these affairs however...they leave an impression..and they can be haunting phantoms of the dream...
until later
bises de neige..
There is a tinkling of china
ReplyDeleteAnd tea into china;
There are introductions.
Then everyone
Crowds to the window
To watch the falling snow.
Snow is falling on Nagoya
And farther south
On the tiles of Kyoto.
Eastward, beyond Irago,
It is falling
Like leaves on the cold sea.
--Derek Mahon
oh my goodness, so much to love here! such beautiful imagery. It's magical how your body blends with the branches and leaves. And then the turquoise and red in the coloured picture...sigh. oh, I could gaze at these pictures for a long long time.
ReplyDeleteThe Lady of Shalott comes to mind.
Tare frumoase imaginile, am cam lipsit de pe-aici, dar acum am ceva mai mult timp liber si vreau sa recuperez, sa ma uit peste ce ai mai facut!Te pup!
ReplyDeletethat first one! i'm loving that!
ReplyDeletebonjour chère magnifique Roxana, I have often put my heart on the line on the bridge and I am pleased to put my current heart image from my profile on the bridge.
ReplyDeleteIt is so pretty.It is a manuscript of medeival music by Baude Cordier in a heart shape.
February is heart month here and it is a beautiful month.WE have the randomn acts of kindness week, where we consciously think of kind acts to give each other all week. I know it should be all the time that we give acts of kindness but well perhaps some deeds are done that would not have otherwise been done.Then we have heart fund raisers for heart research and surgery so the heart metaphor. disolves to acts of love.
see you in a few *snow kisses*
ah yes to sound pathetically analytical but you know I just have to haha.
ReplyDeletewell the self then the way we would want to define it-yes our pact with the universe our unique dna arrangement and then all of the forces that act upon us ssubterranean and otherwise.
But then perhaps that is what makes life to be cherished are the simple acts of the affirmation of the self -the breath between the sky and the earth, the feel of the varnished banister as we ascend and descend the stairs the strumming of the guitar chord that harmonizes with the heart strings
thankyou my cherished friend I sooooo enjoyed my visit to the bridge-the rythm of the bridge the profound beauty of the deep resonance of the heart strings as we dance here with words and thoughts.
*bises de neige
Madeleine
Gosto da imagem como auto retrato!!
ReplyDeleteGostei muito mesmo.
Roxana, és uma excelente manipuladora das imagens e dos estados de alma.
Gosto disso
Beijos
Adelino
These are so cool. I'm trying to wrap my head around how you did them. But then get lost in their multi-layered refracted collage-like beauty. They make me think of a princess in a fairy tale or a Pre-Raphaelite painting updated. I really enjoy coming here!
ReplyDeleteIs this you, roxana? I hope you have central heating in your house...no-one in your pictures ever seems to have many clothes on!
ReplyDelete:-)
das Spiegelbild einer schönen Frau... und ich umarme dann die schöne Frau :-)!
ReplyDeleteeine schöne Ruhe und ein beruhigendes Licht spricht aus diesen Bildern. Eine ganz aussergewöhnliche Serie, eine wunderbare Idee!
Renée
Magique...
ReplyDeleteLuscious self-portraits, Roxana. My favorite is the third because the color expands on the unique placement of the camera (wherever that is!). It makes me wonder more than the other shots, but all told I am, once again, shaking my head in awe of the series and quite incapable of clicking away.
ReplyDeletelocurile,lucrurile,felul in care adasta draga mea.felul acela in care o regasesc intr-o fotografie navigand prin timp,simtindu-ma imortalizata odata cu ea,stiind ca am fost acolo,intr-un timp de alb-negru.iar apoi culoarea,ca si cand atunci ar fi inceput sa se inventeze.iar apoi acea lumina,acea forta alba,in lipsa altei notiuni,care imi inunda mintea si privirea pentru o clipa,dizolvand secventele timpului in delimitare.stiind ca am fost acolo mereu.doar astfel de trupuri am simtit mereu nevoia sa imbratisez eu,cea bruna.
ReplyDeleteet oui je plante mon cœur de mon image profile ici sur le pont,parceque mon coeur est toujours ici et je peux toujours sentir ton esprit proche de moi même quand je ne suis pas sur le pont.
ReplyDeletec'est une jolie mélodie de musique en forme de coeur comme vos mots et images sur le pont.
je t'embrasse de tout mon cœur.
Madeleine
Oh ...
ReplyDeleteit is foolish to choose, since i would not want to be without any of these -- but i like the black and white better than the color -- not only because of my sentimental attachment to b&w, but also because they seem to suit the silvery mood of the poem (though the muted colors are very attractive, and i almost said the third) ... but the first or the second? i can't decide ... the first has an interesting asymmetry in the composition and something of ritual in the serenity of your face ... but the reflections from outside come clearer in the second, almost as if the distinction outside/inside is fading into the dream, along with the distinction self/other ....
ReplyDeletesuch complex images, divided by the vertical of the window frame into planes of the gentle soft face and the empty mirror where anything, anything might appear, if we are brave enough to look ...but also complex in the way foreground and background become joined, become one, in the play of reflections ... these wise images know that looking outward, into the mirror or through the window, is also, always, already, looking inward, through the many layers of the self ...
but, of course, again, trying to choose is foolish ... the multiplicity is the point :-) ... these four directions of being ...
all four are beautiful ... all stop my breath until the day is changed and i breathe new and differently....
i love the balanced lines of the poem, the mirror images (white/white. silver/silver, self/self) ... and the way you bring "nestled" in at the end from Akahito's poem ... there is something comforting and sensual in the sound of "silver hidden within silver / self nestled into self" ... it is not simply the alliteration, but the authority, the reassurance of "within" and "into" that catches and soothes the soul from its threat of falling alone only into the empty whiteness of the snow....
There I learned how faces fall apart,
ReplyDeleteHow fear looks out from under the eyelids,
How deep are the hieroglyphics
...
There I learned how silver can inherit
The black...
La grande aventure, c'est de voir surgir quelque chose d'inconnu, chaque jour, dans le même visage. C'est plus grand que tous les voyages autour du monde.
ReplyDeleteAlberto Giacometti
Coucou Roxana Belle..
Ton âme et ton visage sont de merveilleux paysages ..j'aime beaucoup cette déclinaison dans la luminosité,ces matieres qui arrivent a se fondrent les unes dans les autres.. femme arbre ,femme neige ,femme miroir..osmose parfaite des éléments..
Une très belle idée..et je suis heureuse de découvrir,de deviner plutôt la profondeur de ton regard...
je te remercie de la confiance que tu nous témoignes en nous offrant ces reflets de toi..un doux voyage dans une "intimité"dévoilée mais drapée de pudeur..
mes compliments ...
je t'embrasse...tout plein..
Ohh, the first two! they remind me of a Dali painting, so loaded with myth and symbolism.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.... really beautiful.....
ReplyDeleteIch trau mich nichts zu sagen.
ReplyDeleteWunderschön.
ALSO, chère magnifique Roxana, I so love your words of using silver the colour of dreams for me to cover the self and snow-no metaphor could be more powerful than snow to depict the past as a frozen stillness a frozen landscape without a trace within the whiteness,never to be conjured even with the white witchery of magical symbols.......
ReplyDelete..the bridge with its endless inspiration.
sending you a *snow kiss
lovely, lovely you.
ReplyDeleteTon portrait est comme une belle apparition dans ce monde du net !
ReplyDeleteQuand je dis "comme" c'est parce que ces images, photographies, semblent une brume s'évaporant d'un rêve, un magnifique rêve à ton sujet...:)
Je n'ai pas envie de te parler technique alors que tu as "traité" ces photos d'une façon remarquable ! Tout y est en finesse, certainement à ton image, finesse naturelle et sensible à l'univers qui l'entoure...
Tu es une femme magnifique Roxana !
Je souhaiterais faire un rêve où tu apparaisses de la sorte...
Je te souhaite moins de neige, bien que celle-ci ait son charme... mais le printemps en a aussi...).
Je t'adresse mon amitié et un air chaud sur Le Pont Flottant Des Rêves !...
A beautiful series of self through the window, I congratulate you, are intriguing and mysterious, especially the reading of the B / W.
ReplyDeleteOooooooh - breathtakingly beautiful !
ReplyDeleteThe only one that should be removed in my mind is the fourth one. Not as technically satisfying as the other three.
But you really created a wonderful atmosphere here - b&w was a great idea (probably the best), but colour works too.
Excelente lucrari!
ReplyDeleteEres tan bella¡!¡
ReplyDeleteLa belleza crea belleza.
Mil y un besos***
Nathalie!my goddess of light, this final image is the final cadence,the conclusion of this extravagantily beautiful philisophical series!
ReplyDeleteIt suggests that the self is forever lost on the beautiful dreamscape of the soul.
Remove this! at this shrine, would be a sacrilege.How can you suggest such a thing?!We come here to give due worship.
See you soon also Nathalie.
Have a beautiful day chère magnifique Roxana.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMariana, thank you so much for your visit, your world is pure beauty too!
ReplyDeletemerc, if it is true what you say, then i don't know (possibly by not thinking about it :-)
Dan, i am glad you found so much to relate with in my series - i cannot choose, looking at all four, i seemed to find bits of the poem reflected in every one of them, so i opted for a series, i didn't know which one to leave out...
Prospero,
i would have never thought of Sophrosyne in connection with these images, but now it is an open door :-)
"white is full of loud silences", how lovely, Dianne, thank you so much for your presence here and sensitivity...
Madeleine, thank you for your vivid impressions about this snow-mirror series and the meditation on the nature of dream and self... yes, it is me in the pictures, whenever i use the word 'self-portrait' i mean that literally :-)
ReplyDeletei am happy you find so much delight here on the Bridge!
also, thank you for trying to 'protect' the peaceful atmosphere of the Bridge, which is also very important to me, but i am sure my floating world is not so frail as to crash down under the weight of criticism! :-)
in fact _meaningful_ criticism, and i stress the word again, _meaningful_, is always welcome here so i will never censor any comments, unless they are insulting or contain bad language.
personally i don't do that (criticizing people's work) because i always try to take into consideration the point of view and the specific aesthetics of the photographer, even if i don't agree with them or they don't suit my tastes. i think useless to say: 'i would do this and that if i were you', well, the other is precisely 'other' so i am trying to respect her or his aesthetic choices. but that is only me and people are so different - that makes the beauty of a dialogue, isn't it? :-)
hugs.
billoo, if only i could be in Kyoto right now!...
ReplyDeleteand yes, of course it is me, i would have thought that the term 'self-portrait' is a self-explanatory one :-) or perhaps you mean to suggest that nothing here on the Bridge should be trusted? perhaps perhaps :-)
thank you so much Lynne, for your enthusiastic reply, yes, i had a feeling you might like these :-) they are after all similar to a collage and i could see parts of them appear in your works, if you have nothing against this comparison, which i draw in all humility. here i haven't invented anything, it is just the work of chance, the porch window at my mother's house reflecting the snowed-in rose bush in the garden...
Edith, ce ma bucur ca ai revenit! iti raspund aici la toate comentariile, multumesc mult pentru trecere si sper sa ramai mai mult pe aici (online adica, nu neaparat pe Bridge :-).
swiss, thank you! :-)
Adelino, hi!!!
ReplyDeletethank you so much for your visit and your words - but i must tell you that here i haven't manipulated anything, these images are not collages :-)
Stickup, i love that: "a Pre-Raphaelite painting updated" :-)
but it's easy, there is no mystery here, i am afraid, it's just that i sit behind the windows of a porch, the mirror is on the wall behind me, and the snow and branches are the reflection of a rose bush in the garden outside (where my tripod stands as well :-)
liebste Renée, vielen Dank fuer Deine Freude und Waerme und fuer die Umarmung, die ich jetzt (und immer!) herzlichst erwidere :-)
k'line, on a toujours besoin de magie dans nos vies, n'est-ce pas? :-)
thank you so much Lydia, i am happy you love them - i wrote about _how_ i took the pics in my reply to Stickup, if you are still curious :-)
ReplyDeleteCerasela, ce frumos scrii tu tot timpul, mai ales acea ultima propozitie rasuna in mine...
Owen, what does 'oh' mean? :-)
James, thank you so much for such a complex and thoughtful comment, i am so grateful - you give so much attention to the Bridge, not only to my pictures, but to my words as well, and this makes me always shy and happy. and when you analyze my 'poems', i often think: yes, it is indeed like this how i felt, or why i said that, but i hadn't been aware of that until that moment... and it is a joy to discover it, a joy... and a blessing...
anon, i am glad you found so many things to learn here on the Bridge :-)
ma chere Clo, chaque visite de toi ici me remplit de joie, tes impressions sont aussi delicates que l'aile d'un papillon... je te remercie encore une fois pour la merveilleuse serie que tu m'as dediee... je t'embrasse de tout coeur et te souris avec la chaleur du printemps reve...
Marion, i am glad you like them, and yes Dali comes to one's mind, doesn't it? :-)
ReplyDeleteSally, thank you for visiting and for your appreciation.
trebor, vielen Dank fuer Deine Worte, bitte trau Dich zu sprechen, wenn Du nochmal besuchst, auch wenn das Schweigen manchmal die beste Antwort ist, das weiss ich auch :-)
Manuela :-)
cher Jeff, merci beaucoup pour ton amitie et tes mots chaleureux! pourtant je dois te contredire ici, non, je n'ai pas du tout 'traite' ces images, elles sont en fait exactement comme je les ai prises, voila, un mystere :-)
(pas de mystere, vraiment, je suis debout derriere les fenetres ou il a les reflets d'un rosier dans le jardin, et mon trepied se trouve la-bas aussi, dehors)
Leovi, thank you so much for your visit and kind words...
ReplyDeleteNathalie, thank you for your visit and your appreciation, i am glad you liked my idea.
as to your suggestion about the 4th picture: i don't know about it being 'technically' less 'accomplished', actually it is exactly as i wanted it to be, because in my opinion it reflects the dissolution of the self in the pure white (becoming one with the snow).
multumesc, Nicu!
Ofelia, thank you so much, dear friend! a kiss for you, smiling...
Roxana
ReplyDeleteI know those pictures they don't collages, i know that :)
What I meant:
you do very well the "impression" of the state of mind before the real stuff ... and that with the talent to create new images beyond the visible:)
Hug and hug and hug my friend :)
yes, the'term' is..err..*usually*
ReplyDeleteno, the bridge is perfect; it's just that by the time the reflections reach us lesser mortals doubts start to creep in...
khair.
poems, no quotation marks :-)
ReplyDeletepoezii a ta
o răsuflare care o-respiră cerșetorul ca bani
un sânge care bate în murindul ca naștere
Adelino, i understand now, thank you for explaining - and a thousand hugs for you too! :-)
ReplyDeleteoh, o poezie in romana, pentru mine, James?!!
ReplyDeletece minune, nu stiu cum sa-ti multumesc... ce frumos...
everything on this bridge is of course a reflection of you ... but how particularly strong&wistful, this winter self - portrait ...
ReplyDeleteDans Fenêtre sur cour de Alfred Hitchcock tout ce passe à l'extérieur et l'intérieur un film sublime... dans film un homme ici une femme il cherche le regard de l'autre.
ReplyDeleteRoxana thanks so much for getting back to me and explaining what that fourth photo meant to you. It makes sense now.
ReplyDeleteThere are several ways of approaching comments on people's blogs. I sometimes get a bit depressed by people leaving standard comments such as "great photo", "well done" etc.
I quite enjoy friends getting more into the nitty gritty of things and talking about their personal reaction to such and such image. I sometimes learn and grow from it. And sometimes not. But I always enjoy people expressing their personal feelings rather than staying on the surface of things.
Anyway, thanks for your kindness. I really love your photos and the general spirit of your blog.