Idea Channel recently posted this video exploring the idea that broken things can be beautiful.
Personally I think that what we initially see as unwanted and bad changes over time as those things become less of a problem. There’s a certain nostalgia that develops when we are able to look back with fresh eyes and this helps us to see the beauty in the broken.
For example, the dust, scratches and grain inherent in film photography were once looked upon as problems. They were unwanted artifacts of the photography process. Today our digital cameras do such a great job of taking pictures without those artifacts that they are no longer a concern. Having escaped those artifacts we are now able to look back them with fresh eyes and see the aesthetic beauty they can provide.