52Frames Wabi Sabi Weekly Photo Challenge

The 52Frames weekly photo challenge this week was “wabi-Sabi.” I first thought my mom’s broken vase would be nice, but then decided her elf was even better. That little elf sat in her curio cabinet for as long as I can remember. It’s one of the few things I kept after she passed away three years ago. It’s over seventy five years old. If you look at the bottom side you can tell it’s been around. It’s a bit worn and the paint is chipped off. Aside from that the hat tip is broken off. So what has become my signature project is to turn the images in to a composite photo. So I took several photos of the elf at every angle. And then took a closer in shot of his backside. It’s actually very pretty! Then a photo of a shelf and a plant were taken. It took awhile to figure out how I would piece all of these images together. I hand painted in the outline of the display shelf, then added in the elf’s behind print in to the shelfs. The elf’s were arranged on the shelves - two sitting opposite the plant on top and the rest placed here and there. Then a few backgrounds were tried but I wanted to highlight the wabi Sabi of the elf’s behind chipped paint print and used that as the background - but in a more transparent way. The end result was pleasing to the eye and it was a fun way to remember my mom - and her elf. I wish I knew the story behind it.