Zen & The Art of The Extra Ordinary - 'Light Vessel' (#3)

'Light Vessel'

“We are but light vessels
Often trapped in the flickering figment of our own imagination
It's shape held and decided upon by our own beliefs
We have the power to escape the pain of our own entrapment
By simply changing the shape of our lives”

• by Paul Heaney from 'In Pain We Trust' exhibition & book, Madrid 2015

I was in my living room one evening. The sun was streaming through the bay window and through the amber mosaic glass vase I had standing on the desk. I glanced to the opposite wall and was awe stuck by the sight of what seemed like a 3D light projection of the vase on the wall. I grabbed my camera and took this picture just in time before the light faded. It was a fleeting light effect which fortunately I caught for an eternity of happy ponderings to come.

I do love playing with light through glass and discovering all the interesting effects it can produce photographically, especially in this 3 dimensional way, with layers of depth to the image like a hologram. And maybe that simple concept itself has more depth to it on reflection. For all life's sophistication, are we and all we see simply holograms, a trick of the light? Are we, being an aspect of that creative spark, not simply the best magicians?

It is quite a thought and quite a trick! I believe we have the power to bend that light into any form we wish, and re-shape our lives at will. I believe, it is just a question of remembering the power we have, and remembering how simple it is to project that which we wish. Ah now there's the rub .. that's the trick!

All images and text copyright Paul Heaney © 2018