It's pretty safe to say that we can get a little obsessed with perfection. It's like if something's not 100 percent, our idea of flawless perfection, we tend to hyper-focus on those little blemishes. And sometimes, we miss out on how lovely something really is because we're just not looking at it the right way.
It's true of our faces and bodies, but it's also true of everything we see. Sometimes we forget to just let go of what we think things "should" look like and allow them to simply be. We saw the grandmother-granddaughter team who loved to create scarves and photos celebrating our quirks and so-called imperfections, and now we've come across a photographer who wants us to celebrate the ones found in nature, too.
Photographer Carola Becker creates close-up photos of leaves, showing off their textures, colors, veins, and even blemishes to reveal how unique and beautiful they truly are. She has a wonderful knack for turning everyday, overlooked things into striking works of art.
Check out her photos below, and you may find yourself examining leaves a little more closely the next time you're outside!
[H/T: BoredPanda]
Last autumn, German photographer Carola Becker photographed hundreds of leaves, zooming up close to capture all of their interesting, unique features. She arranged many of her photos into quilt-style grids like this.
Because the leaves are cropped to be rectangles, we stop seeing them as leaves, and can better concentrate on the colors and textures themselves.
The result is a stunning look at the variety of designs, colors, and shapes found in nature. We start seeing that no matter what they look like, each of these leaves has a unique beauty.
So whether they're bright and vibrant or old and faded, smooth and shiny or worn and bumpy, they all have something special to offer, and have a place in this lovely autumn rainbow.
Becker says that her inspiration came from wanting to show people the diversity of nature, and how it "manufactures unique and incredibly beautiful structures."
Ever since beginning photography about 10 years ago, Becker has always been fascinated with nature, and especially likes photographing plants and animals. She also specializes in pet photography.
In the close-ups, you can see that a brown leaf, which might seem very dull and uninteresting at first glance, turns into a stunningly complex network of veins when viewed up close.
And as the leaves age and change, they become even more fascinating.
"I think [the leaves] look that interesting because they are not perfect and differ so much," Becker says.
Her artwork is not only beautiful to look at, but reminds us that where we might see flaws, others will see the features that make us all individual and unique.
You can see more of Becker's photos on her website, and be sure to SHARE this with your beautiful and unique friends!
