Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Wisdom

You can't get to wonderful without passin' through all right.
~ Musician Bill Withers

Wisdom. Who has it? What is it?

With the support of activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, award-winning filmmaker and photographer Andrew Zuckerman sought out 50 of "the world's eminent elders" — all over age 65 — for their perspectives on life. The result of his efforts became Wisdom, comprising a book, a film, and a traveling exhibition. Below is a trailer for the project that features, among others, actress Judi Dench, musician Bill Withers, anthropologist Jane Goodall, painter Chuck Close, and iconic elder statesman Nelson Mandela.



WISDOM Trailer from Andrew Zuckerman Studio on Vimeo.


Zuckerman's gallery talk about Wisdom and what inspired the project is found here; his Wisdom photography exhibition is here.

Wisdom the book is available from Amazon.

What's your definition of "wisdom"? And if you had to make an image of it, what would your photograph or painting or collage of "wisdom" look like?

5 comments:

Louise Gallagher said...

Ooohhhh - good question.

I wonder if wisdom can only be found in a life lived exploring all we can be when we quit trying to be what others think we should be?

I wonder if wisdom is the carrott dangling before youth, the pervue of those who have lived long enough to know -- they don't have all the answers?

I wonder...

thank you Maureen for a thought-provoking question. They are my favourite kind -- and.... you've inspired my blog this morning!

I'm off to write.

Maureen said...

Louise wrote a wonderful response to my questions. Go here to read her post: http://recoveryourjoy.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-is-simply-more.html

Thank you, Louise!

Ann Tracy, Maine's Digital Alchemist & Artist said...

I think it's having enough life experience to know what NOT to do ;~D

Janet Oberholtzer said...

Thanks for sharing! I love learning about wisdom and hopefully someday it will show in my life.

When I think of wisdom, I think of a tree - for a few reasons - roots as deep and wide as the branches above, that support it and help it be flexible no matter what life throws its way. Trees also go through life with a balanced rhythm - which includes a regular season of rest.

Anne Lang Bundy said...

Maureen, I've had your tweet for this post sitting around for a couple of days. I thought my initial answer too simple. But I can't improve on it:

Widsom is sharing God's perspective of a person or situation, of Himself or myself.

If I capture wisdom in a picture, it is simply the human face of light, peace, and humility.