artsy | Drowning Leaves pt.2

A short follow up

That I like to try out new things in photography is something I’ve mentioned in a previous newsletter. If you’re interested, feel free to check it out here:

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I’ve got almost 30 subscribers now (which I’m really excited about!), and if any of you ever want a follow-up, you’ll definitely get one!

So, at first, I just thought the leaves in the puddles looked good. The colors, the shadows, the reflections—it all just worked. Then, when I started playing around with blur and got into macro photography, I was completely hooked. But since autumn doesn’t last forever, and I didn’t want to spend all my time sitting by puddles outside, I decided to bring the whole thing indoors and turned a lasagna dish into my own personal “puddle.”

I spent entire days experimenting, and it turned into something almost meditative. While doing this, I started thinking about what kind of story a photo like this could tell or what message I might want to share. I’m not even sure why I thought that way—I mean, photos can just look cool without needing a deeper meaning, right?

But apparently, it was meant to happen. A few weeks later, I was asked to exhibit my work and suddenly needed an “art statement.”

Here’s what went through my mind while working on the Drowning Leaves project:

One day at work, on a dirty construction site, I spotted this beautiful, decaying leaf in a muddy puddle. The contrast between the leaf’s colors, the puddle’s reflections, and the dark mud was incredible—at least to me. I snapped a photo with my phone, and that was it. I was hooked.
What I saw in that moment was life and death. It made me realize that leaves are like a mini-timelapse version of our own lives.
In spring and summer, they’re born, safe at home (on the tree), growing and living their best life. Then fall and winter hit—they fall, leaving home, trying to find their place. That’s when they age, their personalities start to show as they crinkle, change color, and eventually die.
Some drown in puddles, others rot or are trampled on the streets. But in death, they’re still beautiful—the colors, the shadows, the reflections in the water as they sink. It’s all so hauntingly beautiful.
And that’s the one thing that’s different from us. Most human deaths aren’t beautiful. But just like leaves, our lives are short, too.

A bit dramatic, I know, but my ADHD brain had clearly done its thing long before I even realized it. I’ll definitely post in this “artsy” category from time to time. I have a lot of photos that aren’t in the “normal photo” category.

Thank you for reading this far.
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Thanks in advance, have a good one and enjoy the following photos!