Aging

A handmade wind chime hanging outside in front of a blue-painted building. The top is a large oval metal serving tray, darkened and patinated with age, with a hole corroded through its center. Suspended from it by white string are various old utensils — spoons, forks, and knives in different sizes — each heavily rusted or tarnished to different shades of brown, black, and dark grey. A orange fabric item is partially visible on the left.

What I liked about this was that it’s technically junk — old rusted spoons, bent forks, a tray with a hole eaten through it — but someone saw something worth making in all of it. I wanted to shoot it straight on so you could really see the wear on each piece, the different stages of rust and tarnish, the way no two utensils aged the same way. The fact that it’s a wind chime felt important too; something this worn out is still functional, still making noise, still hanging there.