I’ve always thought of asymmetry as unstable, and occasionally unsettling. Slightly to dizzyingly off-kilter, like the horizon in an unadjusted quick shot with frozen fingers in sub-zero air. The opposite of symmetrical.
I’m reconsidering that in light of an invitation to consider asymmetry not as imbalanced, but as a different and more complicated kind of balance: “two differing sides that balance each other out.”
Not unlike a second reader, or compatible beagles, or a loving marriage. Asymmetry that brings out the best in both sides.
I may look past a vaguely queasy horizon line, and instead focus on a rocky outcropping turned midnight black to set off a riotously colorful sunrise. The opaque velvet that complements jewels, deepening their use of light to enhance their dazzlingly reflected and refracted cores.
Beneficent balance.
We may find glorious asymmetry over time and space, too–wherever the living and breathing now walk or touch down along (or grow nearby) the paths of beings who occupied them in the sometimes very distant past.
Sometimes the balance shifts. The past is restored or renewed and the present fades by shades into the background.
Old Ironsides, rebuilt and docked in Boston Harbor, where the setting sun blankets the city skyline it obscures. An ancient Spanish Galleon docked within a cobblestone’s throw of a Starbucks housed in an old Captain’s House on Massachusetts’ North Shore. A 19th Century carved Eagle freshened with gold leaf overlooking 21st Century Halloween crowds in Salem. Modern wares for sale in an ancient markets in Fez and Marrakesh. Winding Torii gates in Kyoto, where tourists look up into ancient bamboo forests that seem to converge at a point miles above them.
A single image may involve quite a few balancing acts. Day melting into night. Blazing and muted colors, both reducing to black. Budding and emptying, upright and bowed, fall and winter.
Past and present.
Mountain trials echoing with once-solid weighted steps are now carried with us as we climb alone.
It can be a delicate balance.
Love in the Spaces 
Fabulous Stephanie.
Thank you! This was such a good photographic prompt from Wind Kisses.
You’re welcome
Dang, girl. Mic drop! Fantastic examples for us to bask in. From the beginning with the rocky outcropping to the tree/sunset at the end. That was my favorite. The colors of the setting sun are still present, and the tree frames it best, drawing the eye indirectly from the tree. It is a beautiful photo. The black cat in the foreground was a favorite too. And Old Ironsides has a special place in my heart even with its perfect asymmetry. My dad has his retirement ceremony from the Navy on board, back in 1986. It was pretty impressive, as the crew wore period uniforms to my dad’s more modern officer attire. Thanks for joining in. I am sure others will feel inspired by your choices, Stephanie.
I enjoyed your example and definition of “asymmetry” so much, and it gave me a chance to find and share images no one else had ever seen before (like the cat….I knew that shot was in there somewhere!).
What a cosmic coincidence that Old Ironsides, balancing out the past and present in Boston (which my husband and I first called home) came to life in its original form for you–and what a spectacular way to cap off a career in service at sea (which has figured into my life, too)!
Great selections. Cat/dog, Kyoto gates, silhouetted masts, and silhouetted branches at sunset are among my many faves. Great peacock shot too.
Thank you, John! I love hearing which pics others enjoy seeing.
So much to admire here and to inspire us too. First gallery, love them all, the cat is awesome, the woman, all of them. On the second gallery, my favourite is the Marrakesh market. Wonderful post!
Thank you, Sofia! It’s so interesting to me that you and other photographers have commented on the cat–I unearthed it from early 2018 and hardly ever include people or animals in the photos I share, but the photo challenge seemed to beckon for it this time.
For me, it’s not the contempt for imbalance or off-kilter, but a greater desire for everything to be neat, tidy, and complete. Beautiful images and writing.
Love the way you put that…..I’m beginning to suspect you’re a glass-half-full kind of person 🙂
The thing I find interesting about your posts Stephanie is the yin and yang of photography and writing. This week is a perfect example. The images are wonderful (yes, the cat and my favorite, the closing image of the tree especially, but all are marvelous). But your writing makes them come even more alive for the reader and pushes one to look twice, or to see the images for more than their surface beauty. It is a rare and wonderful talent.
Thank you so much, Tina. The Lens Artists hosts always come up with just the thing I need to “unstick” my brain and figure out how my photos tell me a story that I might be able to tell someone else!