Some photographs reveal patterns and shapes in the piping on the inside of a toilet tank, an aesthetic detail few take time to notice.

Others show brightly colored shirts hung in a closet or vivid orange flames contrasting against a black background.

Such are the images appearing in this year’s Wabi Sabi exhibit, arranged by photography teacher Margo Wixsom and her Advanced Photography class, which aims to give students a venue to show off their work and explore beauty in an unconventional way. The exhibit is on show in the Norseman Gallery for the third year in Paly history.

The exhibit focuses on seeing the beauty in things that would ordinarily go unnoticed or be considered ugly. "It’s important to explore the world around you because everything is beautiful if you look at it in a different and new way," said Alyson Seedman, the photographer behind the toilet images. "Nobody thinks of a bathroom as art, but after this project I have started to see the beauty in the simpler things of life."

Wabi Sabi originates from Japan; the term roughly translates to ‘rustic’ in English, or simple and unsophisticated. Wabi Sabi refers to a philosophical idea that beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness, and that greatness can exist in the inconspicuous and overlooked details. It represents the opposite of what Western culture considers art or beauty to be.

Instead of photographing organic and natural forms as traditional Wabi Sabi directed, sophomore Tito Balsamo took his own approach to the assignment. He chose to photograph modern structures that we see everyday but that most people overlook. Balsamo described in his artist’s statement that he was "tailoring Wabi Sabi to conform to modern culture". Balsamo photographed pictures of doors and cabinets to reveal the beauty in the simplicity and pattern. "There are a lot of things that people don’t normally notice that can be beautiful," Balsamo said. "I now try to look at things in a different way to find an interesting perspective."

The Wabi Sabi project provokes the photographer to step outside the guidelines for traditional photography and begin to view everyday objects as works of art. It asks them to reexamine their definition of beauty and question the standard by which things are judged acceptable in an art gallery. Items that were previously considered artistically uninteresting are revisited and the beauty in the simplicity of the object is discovered.

There were a variety of themes presented throughout the exhibit, from dirt and moss to screws and toilets. Accompanying each picture or group of pictures is an "Artist’s Statement", which explains the method by which the photographer completed the assignment and his or her feelings about Wabi Sabi. It also states how experimenting with the Wabi Sabi style effected their perception of art and conceptions of beauty.

Junior Stephanie Henner explored areas in her house she had previously been unfamiliar with or considered artistically uninteresting. She photographed a picture of brightly colored shirts hung in a closet and framed it on simple white paper which she then dangled from the button of an actual work shirt. The picture of hanging clothes hanging on clothes gives an interesting effect of looking into a closet while looking at its contents at the same time.

Junior Melody Gaal constructed a series of pictures she titled "Let It Burn," in which she photographed several different objects engulfed in flame. The contrasting bright orange flames against the black of the sky create beautiful shapes and patterns. The object being burned is not visible to the viewer’s eye, as it is encircled in flames, but the simplicity of the orange against black is what creates the aesthetic beauty.

Come see the Wabi Sabi exhibit to question your own definition of what is beautiful, in the Norseman Gallery in the 100 building. The gallery is open at lunch and by appointment, and will house the Wabi Sabi Exhibit for several more weeks.