A story of self-improvement & discovery ✨
About the Collection
Renewal is the second NFT collection by Wanderloots. The first collection, Begin, Again, is a story of a life-changing trip to Africa that reignited a passion for astrophotography and the pursuit of childhood dreams. But that all changed in 2020.
Sometimes, we are forced into life circumstances that we were not expecting. These situations call for us to either stagnate in frustration or adapt and use them as an opportunity to grow.
The lockdown during COVID forced me to change my photography style. I had been focused on developing my Milky Way astrophotography, but this was not possible with the light pollution in Toronto or lockdown restrictions.
Stuck in Toronto, I went to take a timelapse in a nearby park. I was relaxing and enjoying the nice weather when I suddenly experienced a flash of inspiration. The moon had appeared, the only astrological object bright enough to shine through the light pollution, sparking the awe I had been looking for.
I realized that this lockdown limitation on my astrophotography was not a burden, but an opportunity to pursue one of my childhood dreams: to bring the moon closer to Earth.
The moon has always fascinated me. As a child, I loved that it felt as though it followed me around each evening, lighting my way through the night. I had a lunar phase chart beside my bed that I would look at before going to sleep, learning more about the rotation of the Earth and how the moon changed each day of the month.
My first attempt at capturing the moon was brutal, a blurry mess of a timelapse that inspired me to learn how to capture the moon properly, I knew I could do better. So I tried again and again.
With each attempt, I focused on improving a different aspect of my lunar photography skills. I worked at my capture technique, my editing ability, and upgrading my equipment. Each attempt was better than the last, a continuous journey of improvement.
This collection is a symbol of the concept that small, consistent changes can lead to drastic improvements over time. Each time I shot the moon, I was able to improve the quality of the shot and better capture the moment as I remembered it.
While lockdown was a difficult time, I will always appreciate that it forced me to slow down and experience my home in a new light, moonlight. I now have the skill to capture the moon anywhere I travel and will continue to do so from Toronto and around the world.
When life becomes uncertain, unpredictable, and you feel like you don’t know where you are going next, sometimes all you have to do is look a little closer to home. The best step is the next one forward, to begin again and feel a sense of renewal.
About the Animation
Each piece is timed to be a breathing guide for improving mindfulness and reducing anxiety. The pulse of this series is set to 5.5 seconds inhale, 5.5 seconds hold, and 5.5 seconds exhale.
By holding your breath after the inhale, you can take the opportunity to feel and locate tension in your body. By recognizing this tension and paying attention to it, you can then exhale to relax, focusing on those tension points to relieve them and achieve a greater depth of rest.
Each breath is an opportunity to begin again and renew your sense of self and where you are going next.
Each moment is an opportunity to rediscover who you are.
About the Art
Much like the building of a new skill, each work includes a piece of the overall story.
I have included a snippet of the story below, but I encourage you to read the full story for each piece on its @manifoldxyz Gallery page.
I would love to hear your thoughts ✨
SPARK
SMOKE
IGNITE
FLAME
INFERNO
Renewal
The moon serves as a reminder that each day is unique, each night special.
Much like the moon cyclically loses and renews itself, so can we use each day to begin again and grow, learning to be the best versions of ourselves as we renew our sense of self and who we dream to be.
I hope that this collection can inspire you to pursue your dreams, not getting caught up in where you are hoping to end up, but instead focusing on the next step to get you there.
Chapter I: Begin, Again
The first chapter of my story, Begin, Again, provides some additional information on the breathing of the animations and how I got into astrophotography.