Posted in from the dark room, photography on May 30, 2008| 2 Comments »
As I flew over the coast recently shortly after taking off from Edinburgh airport, I snapped this shot.
What strikes me here is the almost symmetry between the man-made shapes of the golf course, and the natural shapes in the sand created by the tides.
Posted in from the dark room, from the reading room, philosophy, photography, science on May 29, 2008| 4 Comments »
I was photographing this lovely yellow flower when suddenly I noticed a bit of it was moving…….then I saw the little spider!
Look at it! See how the yellow of its body so PERFECTLY matches the yellow of the flower! Goodness! How does that happen? Isn’t it astonishing!
One of my favourite philosophers is Deleuze. He emphasises not thinking of discrete objects. He rejects the typical “arboreal” system of thought where we set every organism into a specific branch in a taxonomic tree. Instead he suggests we think in terms of the connections and borders and interactions. He emphasises a “rhizome” model (like grass, which has no single centre, but is, instead more like a vast web). I’ve always found that idea appealing because it rejects labelling and putting things into boxes. Instead it emphasises dynamic change. That’s why I have the byline at the top of my blog – “becoming not being…..”
When you think in terms of becoming, not being, you focus on the interactions, the connections and the development of organisms. After all, can we really understand either this flower or that spider without considering how, together, they make a little functioning unit, a little ecosystem?
Posted in creativity, from the dark room, life, photography, science on May 28, 2008| 3 Comments »
I was sitting sipping a coffee at an outside table in the cafe at the market the other day and I saw this seed lying on the table.
I thought I’d capture it and share it with you.
Isn’t it amazing? If you look closely, there are two capture devices built into it! At the left end, there’s a tiny, wee hook-shaped hair for grabbing onto something and, at the other end is this delicate and exquisite brush of fine, fair hairs for carrying it far in the wind.
Seeds have always been a source of wonder to me. How can such a tiny object turn into a flower, or a bush, or a tree? I guess if you are knowledgeable about such things you’ll know what this seed might become – I’m afraid I don’t! One of the subjects which enthralled me at university was embryology. How on earth can a single, fertilised cell turn into all the diverse types of cell in the human body and grow in the right places?! Awesome!
Do you think this seed might become a great tree somewhere? Like these ones?
I also went to a garden festival and one of the stalls sold seed pods. Look at their diversity!
So, there’s two things that amaze me about Nature – creativity and diversity. These are such important features of human beings too, aren’t they? How little we guess about the potential of a baby! How little we know about his or her uniqueness! Amazes me every time I think about it!
Posted in art, creativity, from the dark room, perception, photography on May 25, 2008| 2 Comments »
I saw this today in the Jardins d’Albertas in Aix en Provence. From the distance I could see these amazing billowing sheets. I don’t know what they are made of but they floated, danced and drifted constantly. Then as I got closer I noticed all the deck chairs scattered across the grass. I thought they were for people to sit on, but then realised they were part of the same art installation.
The whole set was totally engrossing. I stood here, transfixed, and somehow, those deck chairs seemed like the animals you see at the zoo and in a moment, suddenly, you think “They’re all looking at ME!”
Only once I’d uploaded the photo did I see all the shadows, and there’s one of the ways in which a photo can let you see something even more clearly. Why didn’t I notice the shadows at the time? Well, I’m glad I see them now!
I love a good art installation and I’m a big fan of Anthony Gormley, however, I’m afraid I couldn’t find any information at all about the artist responsible for this work.
Here are some more photos from other angles………
Posted in from the dark room, life, philosophy, photography on May 23, 2008| 7 Comments »
Things aren’t things.
OK, that doesn’t make sense, does it? What I mean is that we tend to view the world as made up of objects, or entities. We do that by focusing our attention on parts of what we see, separating out the bits we want to collect together and name. This is one of our major ways of both making sense of, and managing, our world. A great model to help us to take a different view is that of a network or web. One of the most interesting books I’ve read in recent months is “Linked“, by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi.
Networks are made up of nodes and links. You can see anything you like that way. Let’s start with an object, like the chair you are probably sitting on right now. It’s made up of a number of materials which have been attached to each other……wood, or metal, or plastic, and maybe cloth, or leather or some other material. Take any one of these elements in your chair, say, one of the legs. It’s most likely made of wood, or metal (but maybe it’s plastic). Whatever substance it is, you’ll have the impression it’s pretty solid. Solid enough to stop you falling on the floor at least! But it’s made up of molecules which are connected to each other. And every single molecule is made from atoms which are connected to each other. And that was as far as we used to go. But since we smashed the atom open, we’ve discovered that even that is made from sub-atomic particles, like protons and electrons which are linked to each other. Does it stop there? Nope, even those tiniest of little particles are now known to be made of even smaller elements (quarks for example), all restlessly connected to each other. It seems no matter how far in we go, solid substance escapes us, and we find more and more networks of particles and links. Every particle being another network of particles and links.
Maybe it’s just my mind, but that’s where my thoughts went when I looked at this –
Then, a little further along the same embankment, I came across this –
Some of the seeds have already blown away and I thought about how each of these plants can’t be understood all by itself. They are all connected to other elements around them, and the wind comes and blows some of the seeds great distances, and the seeds fall on the ground, and if there is enough good soil, and water, and warmth, and sunlight, each seed bursts out through its capsule and becomes another of these plants. Vast, great, intricate ecosystems and biological networks.
But here’s another whole scale of connections too. Along comes me with my camera and I take this shot and I connect my camera up to my mac, and I upload it to flickr and copy the code into my wordpress blog and write these words and along comes YOU and you see it and now that seed has connected us to each other.
You know what? It blows my mind!
Posted in from the dark room, perception, photography on May 23, 2008| 2 Comments »
poppy field, originally uploaded by bobsee.
I took a lot of photos of this particular poppy field, then, for some reason, I crouched down and filled the foreground with one of the wide ribbons of poppies spreading right across the field and as I looked through the lens of my camera I noticed these two olive trees in the distance.
Amy, has written some fabulous guides to photography, and in one of them she talks how a camera can increase your awareness. I completely agree. But, on an occasion like this, it also changes your perspective. If I hadn’t had my camera with me I just wouldn’t have seen this. Crouching down, standing up, zooming in and out with a telephoto lens, moving to different parts of the same field…….not only does all that let you see what you’d miss if you just walked or drove by, but it let’s you see the world differently, let’s you see it as if for the first time.
Look at this field. Isn’t it an inspiration? Aren’t you drawn to the invisible gate between the olive trees? Don’t you wonder about the red carpet spread across the field?
You can spend a long time in a place like this
Posted in from the dark room, life, perception, photography on May 23, 2008| 4 Comments »
poppy field, originally uploaded by bobsee.
There are thousands of poppies in the fields in Provence just now. One thing that really strikes me about them is how, so often, they catch you by surprise and how you just can’t take your eyes off them.
As I was walking down the path to the front gate, this splash of red caught my eye. I turned and looked, a gap in the foliage at the side of the path having opened up, and it was as if looking through a window into another world. From another angle, it just doesn’t look like this, but from this spot, right here, it suddenly seemed magical, a gift, a moment to stand and wonder about just how amazing and beautiful the world can be.
It’s inviting, isn’t it? Don’t you want to clamber through and see what lies beyond?
Posted in from the dark room, photography, Uncategorized on May 13, 2008| 3 Comments »
giant snowdrops, originally uploaded by bobsee.
Just because they’re beautiful…..
Actually, one of the reasons I love flower photos, is that I SEE much more in the photo than I usually notice when out walking. The photos seem to actually help me SEE better. In fact, I find carrying a camera changes the way I see the world and somehow stimulates me to notice what I’m sure I’d otherwise just not notice at all. But when I get home and upload my photos to my Mac I can gaze at these flowers on the big screen for AGES.
I hope these simple flowers bring you as much pleasure as they bring me.
Tell me if you get similar experiences with your camera. Does it change the way you SEE the world?
Posted in from the dark room, photography, tagged flowers, plants on May 10, 2008| 2 Comments »
purple flower, originally uploaded by bobsee.
Does anyone know what this plant is called?
It’s about 12 inches tall and grows in the verges at the sides of the road. This one is just outside Aix en Provence
I’ve never seen a flower like this in Scotland and I’d like to know what it is.
Can you help?
Posted in from the dark room, photography, Uncategorized on May 8, 2008| 1 Comment »
This lovely tree is known in France as l’arbre de Judea – which probably relates to its prevalence in the Middle East. However, in English, is has come to be known as the “Judas Tree”. Many authorities believe this is a mistranslation from the French.
However, the story which goes with the name is that Judas hanged himself from this particular variety of tree and it produces its blood red blossom each year after Easter in some kind of remembrance of that.
I find these kinds of stories associated with trees fascinating, and this is one of the first I’ve come across where the story either evolved after the tree’s misnaming, or whether the story influenced the naming.
Does anybody know how this tree really got its name?
by the way, I framed this shot to include the church nearby to heighten the religious connection!
Heroes Not Zombies 