The English language contains an extraordinary number of words that allow us to describe almost anything we might feel or experience: jazzed, kerfuffle, rambunctious, are just some that come to mind at the moment..
Yet, there isn’t really a word to capture the phenomenon of sunlight dancing through leaves—the perfect impermanence of its movement. The ever-changing fractals of light, the movement of the beams and life merging into a brief, unique, and mesmerizing show. This show has been performed for millennia and will continue long after we are no longer here to witness it.
But the Japanese (who are arguably more advanced in many ways including 7-Elevens, self-service technology, and commercializing anime characters) have already created a word for it: Komorebi (木漏れ日). This incredible word means “sunlight filtering through the foliage.” Komorebi is a brief, awe-inspiring phenomena that I aim to capture in my artwork and the focus of my project here at Sunset Media Wave.
Over the next two months, I will be photographing nature, aiming to answer the question: how can nature inspire awe? Rather than focusing on larger, grandiose spectacles, my photos will focus on the simple beauty that surrounds us—beauty that exists in nature, whether it has a name or not. Just like Komorebi.
