1.12.2010

Vanitas






Today when my art teacher began talking about vanitas as an art form and it's relation to the insignificance of earthly life and the transient nature of vanity, I was immediately reminded of a favorite My Morning Jacket line...
I love this line because it forces me to think about how different things could be.
What if you had never seen your reflection?
Do you think you would be completely different?
Would you think about the same things you think about now?

I love mirrors just as much as the next girl and I don't think fashion would be anywhere without them, but sometimes it's nice to picture a world with no egos and complexes brought on by a simple piece of glass.


Photos by Hannah Stocker.
If you like, you should purchase her photo book.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay seriously, every single post you've posted lately has been beyond inspiring and beautiful and gorgeous and soft and pretty! It makes me want to be prettier and softer (if that's even possible.) Love these photos and the Morning Jacket quote too.
xx Jenny

chelsea said...

That is possibly one of the best lines I have ever heard. It does really make you think. I do know a friend who doesn't own a full length mirror. She doesn't think nearly as hard about her ensembles as I do, though she does sometimes pop over to ask how things look.

Miss Tofu said...

So true. Sometimes we get so caught up in all the perceived flaws we see reflected back in the mirror, we lose sight of the fact that we really are beautiful, and we really do have worth.

(Having said that though, I don't think I can live without my well-lit, full-length mirror!)

<3 from pretty-preoccupied.blogspot.com

Amanda said...

The world would be entirely different! I heard somewhere that when men see themselves in the mirror, they see themselves as more attractive. But when women look in the mirror, they imagine flaws that aren't there. Imagine a world with none of that!

Desiree said...

I love these photos. What are you studying?

Ally said...

oh my the photographs are amazing, and i agree the world would be super different....makes you think dosent it!!

BaronessVonVintage said...

fabulous images and really fascinating, thought-provoking topic. Jacques Lacan (a founding father of modern psychology, if memory serves) argued that the mirror stage is the crucial foundation to identity, so you pose a REALLY interesting question by asking what if we never saw our own reflections in the mirror....

Lara said...

Fantastic post. I actually thought about how much a personal challenge it would be not to look into a mirror for a day, a week, a month? How interesting (and maybe scary) life would be. Egos are definitely reinforced by mirrors but are they really? If someone entered life never knowing what beauty is, would a mirror do anything to make them draw the conclusion that they were pretty or not pretty. Subsequently, would someone who never looked in a mirror not know if they were pretty or not pretty based on how other see them?

Ok...tad bit philosophical... but still!

Christine said...

Did you get my email with my address regarding the foundation giveaway? I just wanted to make sure =)

Jason said...

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I'd like to exchange links with you to help spread some traffic around between each other. Please let me know if this is possible. Until then, keep up the good work.

Jason
TheWISDOMWALL.com

Sher said...

This is such a thoughtful and inspiring post! I wonder what the world would be like without mirrors in it! It would certainly be a very different place for sure:)

xx

alexandra grecco said...

lovely photos, miss. xo

Penelope Nightingale said...

Oh, goodness, those photographs are so wonderfully dreamy..

_ said...

my goodness your blog is lovely.
s.

Claire Nouveau said...

this is gorgeous. and i am a gigantic fan of my morning jacket, so much in fact that it was the album playing when i met my guy...we connected over the music and the rest is history. gorgeous post my friend :)

Kristin said...

This is such an excellent and reflective post. I love that My Morning Jacket line....I have actually been thinking a lot about maintenance/vanity lately. I just went for a number of days without a lick of makeup and in tees and sweats (obviously not really using mirrors), and to my surprise I didn't feel much different than when I an running around all done up. Don't get me wrong...I definitely still love to get fancied up, but it is nice not to for a change!

Magdalena said...

Beautiful pictures! And those masks give your post something special. Great!
xoxo

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{Tara} said...

Great post...and you're right! Things would be very, very different.

amy boras said...

these photos are so beautiful. it is a difficult concept to wrap my head around - if i had never seen my own reflection. for one, fashion would be a lot different. self esteem levels may be higher. . .

Valencia Lia said...

That is such a beautiful line to think about and I love love the photos that she took! Wowwwww,I wonder how do they make photos look so dreamy like that.

She has surely inpsired me and thanks for sharing Starr <3 big hugssss