"exhale. click. release. meditations with camera" a solo exhibit by Brooke Ratzat

My meditation is slow walks with my camera. My meditation is finding the space between spaces. Capturing the light, the energy of a passing moment. Shifting my perspective while shifting my mind and body. Focusing my intention, my camera, and then releasing that intention and seeing what resides in the blurred edges.
We have included images of the Main Street Gallery because you can not be there to see the strings and rocks suspending my prints from the ceiling. I invite you to explore these Gallery pages, read the quote that inspired me in this work, take a breath, release, and "walk" through my exhibit's gallery images slowly and with intention, taking the time to breathe. Please enjoy the exhibit videos "Guided Gallery Meditations" below. Each video is a guided meditation of each trail. This was a collaboration between videographer Jason D.H. Baldwin, sound engineer Kyle G. Bailey, and myself. Our intention is to bring the Gallery experience to your home safely, and the opportunity to participate in the meditation over and over again. Take care everyone. I'll hug you on the other side!
- Brooke Ratzat
Images of the Main Street Gallery
"exhale, click. release. meditations with camera" the image gallery
Meditations on the Rainbird Trail Aug. 1, 2019
Look, and it can't be seen.
Listen, and it can't be heard.
Reach, and it can't be grasped...
...image without an image,
subtle, beyond all conception. Approach it and there is no beginning;
follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it,
at ease in your own life.
Just realize where you come from:
this is the essence of wisdom.
- Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzo translated by Stephen Mitchell
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Rainbird 1, Moss Covered Tree
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 2, Hemlock Sapling
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 3, Hemlock with Bear's Bread
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 4, Close Up of Bark
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 5, Cedar Stump with Moss
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 6, Fern in Spotlight
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 7, Cedar Bark Silhouette
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 8, Window Through Tree Roots
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 9, Branch with Face
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 10, Moss from Below
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 11, Moss from Below
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 12, Moss Triangle
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 13, Moss Lace
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 14, Three Mushrooms on a Branch
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 15, Slug
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 16, Slug
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 17, Still Water
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 18, Alder Leaf
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 19, Yellow Leaf in Water
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Rainbird 20, Deerheart
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
Rainbird Guided Gallery Meditation
Meditations on the Ward Lake Trail Oct. 9, 2019
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.
- Bruce Lee
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Ward Lake 1, Skull with Grass
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 2, Branch Silhouette with Mountain
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 3, Salmon with Red Eye
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 4, Half Salmon with Reflection
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 5, Salmon Skeleton
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 6, Alder Silhouette
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 7, Evergreen Through the Alders
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 8, False Azalea
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 9, Moss Path
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 10, Salmonberry Branches with Droplet
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 11, Salmonberry Branches with Droplet
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 12, Salmonberry Leaf Path
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 13, Salmonberry Silhouette
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 14, Salmon Fining
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 15, Queen Anne's Lace
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 16, Moss Sporophyte
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 17, Mushrooms in Moss
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 18, Violet
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 19, Devil's Club
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Ward Lake 20, Mushroom Through Root Window
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
Ward Lake Guided Gallery Meditation
Meditations on the Whitman Trail Jan. 7, 2020
Express yourself completely,
then keep quiet.
Be like the forces of nature:
when it blows, there is only wind;
when it rains, there is only rain;
when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.
- Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzo translated by Stephan Mitchell
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Whitman 1, Decayed Salmonberry
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 2, Frozen Salmonberry Leaf
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 3, Droplet Silhouette
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 4, Icicle Branches with Bubbles
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 5, Grass Icicles
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 6, Layered Icicles
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 7, Snow wit Grass
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 8, Grass with Ice
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 9, Mushroom Steps
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 10, Angel Wing with Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 11, Fern Holding Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 12, Branch Silhouette with Blue Sky
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 13, Hemlock Branches with Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 14, Lichen
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 15, Burl with Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 16, Huckleberry Branches with Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 17, Huckleberry Branches
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 18, Muskeg Window in Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 19, Fern in Snow
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
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Whitman 20, Cedar Blue Blue Sky
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
Whitman Guided Gallery Meditations
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Top section, arched 29.125" x 16.5" x .125"
Middle Section 29.125 x 22 x .125 "
Bottom section 29.125 x 22 x .125 "
Aluminum Print in three sectionsWhitman 21, Cedar
image credit: Brooke Ratzat
"Guided Gallery Meditations" exhibit videos by Jason D.H. Baldwin
Exclusive Artist Talk with Brooke Ratzat
An intimate autobiographical talk about how COVID-19 has changed her gallery opening and the various inspirations behind her installation.