Pleasure in beauty

Photographs and words by Zarina Holmes

To heal, the heart must sing. An art performance has the power to abduct our minds, play with our senses, and spurs us into action. Zarina Holmes explains why, in order to create objects of aesthetics that heal, we must first take pleasure in them. Here, she documents the arts in the making.

[View with PicLens]

I feel beautiful after experiencing a wonderful performance. I really do.

Beauty is beyond skin deep. Real beauty shines from the inside out, and can help the process of day-to-day healing. It has spiritual values.

A beautiful performance – be it storytelling, music, dance and visual arts – can summon powerful emotions from within the hearts. This can galvanise action and change.

Creating beauty or aesthetics is an art in itself. I enjoy observing creatives from photography, fashion, dance and performing arts putting together their visions to inspire the audience.

So I’m sharing with you several inspiring behind-the-scene moments that inspired me. Working with stylist Sherman Hawthorne, who art directed a fashion story shoot for Schon magazine. Documenting photoshoot of R&B singer Vernie Bennet that was done in an impressive set at the Lumiere studio. Photographing an interview feature with Royal Ballet principals’ Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares for a top dance blog, The Ballet Bag. A four-month long photos and video documentary project on City Academy’s performing artists and students.

In my own work, I keep referring to the Arts and Crafts philosophy, founded on the belief that the act of creating aesthetics objects not only benefits the society, but restores the souls of the craftsmen. Using multimedia makes it more fun and relevant to my audience.

I hope we will always take pleasure from beauty, and be inspired by the beautiful things created for us.

Photos © Zarina Holmes. All rights reserved. “The Crew” is used with the kind permission Ms Vernie Bennet.