I’m so excited to bring you guest muse, Tamar Haytayan Armen! Tamar is an exquisite woman filled with photography talent and inspiration. Originally from London, Tamar currently lives in lovely Vancouver, Canada with her family. I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Tamar last fall at a photography retreat. I’m so grateful for our time together then and look forward to meeting up with her again this fall! Here is Tamar’s words and photos for us today…

I have a very good memory, but it’s short. Thank god for photography.
– John E. Burkowski

Most days I struggle with the idea of perfection. This bothers me most when I am tired, or when I have the “should be” demons in my head. My house should be clean, dinner should be cooked from scratch, all the toys and Lego should be put away, my kids’ rooms should look like something out of a magazine and on and on it goes. Hell, my house should look like something out of a magazine! I want tidy and perfect.

DSC_0381 MM

Then there is this other side of me that embraces the perfectly imperfect with a big smile and wide open arms. I love real, raw, vintage, and old things that can be touched and felt with passion. This is what I try to do with my photography. And I am more at peace with this side of myself with camera in hand. Real = imperfect.

DSC_0558 MM

The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi rings most true when describing the perfectly imperfect and authentic world I am trying to create through my images. From the pages of Wikipedia, “Wabi-sabi is sometimes described as one of beauty that is ‘imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.’ It also nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. Wabi-sabi is also a training whereby the student of wabi-sabi learns to find the most simple objects interesting, fascinating, and beautiful.”

DSC_0641 MM

DSC_0630 MM

As photographers, we always find the most simple object, situation, or surrounding interesting. Through our history of taking pictures we have trained our eye to find the magic in the moment or situation we are in. We instinctively know what to take pictures of, our style of photography drawing out and emphasizing what we want from that certain situation we find ourselves in.

DSC_0657 MM

DSC_0665 MM

My children fascinate me, I see them each and every day and yet they constantly surprise me, amuse me, and of course at times drive me crazy! I love capturing them as they are, while playing, with their unkempt hair, not necessarily smiling, just being in the moment. Will I remember exactly how they are now in twenty years time? Probably not exactly how they are but some stories will surely be stuck in my memory. But what I really want to remember is them as they are now, the toys they played with, how they loved playing with water and mud in our front yard and how they looked in that entire mess. So for me, capturing my perfectly imperfect life now will help me remember my kids later in my life during this time of their lives. Without photography, I doubt I will get the chance to do that and for this I am so grateful.

DSC_0672 MM

DSC_0682 MM

I am also grateful for photography as it helps me pause, makes me realize that there is so much more to life than a clean house, shiny newly painted walls, and getting mad at the silly things like sand on the carpet that has just been hoovered an hour ago. Photography helps me live my life more positively and helps me connect with the relaxed “whatever will be, will be” side of me.

I think we all need some form of release to just let things go a bit and enjoy the moment. It is so important, don’t you think?

You can find Tamar blogging at her website, posting to Flickr, and on Instagram @tamarhaytayan. Thanks for musing with us, Tamar! xo

Meghan of Life Refocused