In 1818, Victor Cousin wrote in Cours de Philosophie "We need religion for religion's sake, morality for morality's sake, art for art's sake."   Whether it came from someone lambasting art as a dodge or modern art as an aberration, I can remember hearing the phrase "art for art's sake" from a fairly early age.  The fact of the matter is that art seems to be part of the human condition, and it has been expressed for millennia as painting on the walls of caves or on modern buildings and anywhere else that displays a blank palette.  It is sometimes revolutionary and frequently evolutionary. Photography and writing, like every other art form, can be used to document, to provide pleasure for one's self or others, or for the most basic human reason - the need to do it.  That is true of my photography and writing.  Since each person has individual tastes and ways of seeing, I never really know whether what I photograph will appeal to anyone.  But the urge to use the camera and put words to paper remains the same.

In January, after a particularly abundant season of leaves, I found a number of large cottonwood leaves that seem to have been varnished.  It was something I had not seen before (or more likely had gone unnoticed).  I tried different backgrounds and light to see which would best show the coating they had developed.  Since this effort would probably not be seen by anyone nor might not be of interest, it was an example of doing it, or art for art's sake.

I wondered if a black and white image would be a better reflection of the coating.  The jury is still out on that.  

The neighboring flowering plum tree did not bear fruit for the six years we had been watching it.  When it did yield, it did so in abundance and the fruit absolutely glistened.  
Flowers and plants - flowering plums 1 2024 Flowers and plants - flowering plums 2 2024

Finally, the Japanese maple we put in a pot six years ago also produced seeds last year.  Because of its dense foliage, I probably would not have noticed it but for the lovely color of its winged seeds.

trees - Japanese maple seeds 3 2024

"Art for art's sake is an empty phrase.  Art for the sake of the true, art for the sake of the good and the beautiful, that is the faith I am searching for."

George Sand, in a letter to Alexandre Saint-Jean, 1872

All creatures and growing things are definitely responding to the change in light and warmer temperatures.  Hundreds of robins, finches, curve billed thrashers, flickers, and Say's phoebes (which arrived this week) combine to fill the air with a spring cacophony!

Thanks to Lisa S., TTT, Victoria, Steve, Brenda, Karren, Jean & Sam, Ingrid, Barbara F. R., and Marilyn G. for your blog comments last week!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image©