Light Shafts

“Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.” This quote comes from the revered ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, founder of philosophical Taoism. Lao Tzu emphasizes the importance being still. Have you ever seen lights shafts? Whether coming from the clouds, or shining through the trees, they are surely a sight to behold!

Let’s take a moment to talk about stillness.

For most of us, the idea of sitting in one place for an entire day, still and calm, focused on our surroundings, is unfeasible. Leaving aside the distractions of our daily lives, this kind of focus is aspirational even among the most experienced of meditators. 

But there is a way for us to see nature from the perspective of someone sitting still, fixed in one place. 

Louie Schwartzberg is a storyteller and filmmaker who has been shooting time-lapse photography of nature, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, non-stop. His work compresses time and puts you in sync with different forms of life within our interconnected world.

His work makes the invisible visible.

Through time-lapse photography, Louie increases the scope of time that we’re able to perceive significantly. By taking long time-lapse exposures, we can put ourselves in a specific position in nature and observe as if we were there, seeing the way that light and environment change throughout the course of the day.

Louie’s work instills awe and wonder in the viewer, illuminating how even simple occurrences like the shafts of light in a slot canyon changing as the day goes on can be immensely beautiful and meaningful.

Let us know when the last time was that you saw light shafts.