color photograph

a moment in thought

“… what if she wrote more from a personal place …?”

Fujifilm X-T4: f/8 1/480 s 60 mm 640 ISO

Not from the first person perspective. A self so absorbed – so narrow focused – so stuck in the muddle of feelings, thoughts, self negation. Why not write from a present awareness of self – “breathing in, I am aware of my in breath: breathing out, I am aware of my out breath.

Would she then awaken an observer through the flow of ink – ink creating negative spaces introducing a new awareness of self?

lens-artists: habitat

This week’s lens-artists challenge is offer by Tina who invites us to share images/stories of habitats.

The Oxford Languages defines habitat as 1) the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism or 2) a person’s usual or preferred surroundings.

I understand the Earth to be the natural home for all the amazing diversity of life; from the Posidonia australis (the largest living organism on Earth: it is spread across 180 whopping square kilometres) to bacteria which are the smallest living organisms on earth (an average of 2 micrometres long and 0.5 micrometres thick).

But then again, the Guinness World Records recognizes the Nanoarchaeum equitans as the smallest living organism. Their habitat is a hydrothermal vent off the coast of Iceland on the Kolbeinsey Ridge by Karl Stetter.

For today, I will share these four examples of my usual or preferred surroundings, (sub-habitats of the earth?)

Thank you Tina.

saturday morning with alan lightman

Fujifilm X-T4 f/5.6 1/60 s 60.8 mm 800 ISO

“In a world where time is a sense, like sight or like taste, sequence of episodes may be quick or may be slow, dim or intense, salty or sweet, causal or without cause, orderly or random, depending on the prior history of the viewer. Philosophers sit in cafés on Amthausgasse and argue whether time really exists outside human perception. Who can say if an event happens fast or slow, causally or without cause, in the past or future? Who can say if events happen at all? The philosophers sit with half-opened eyes and compare their aesthetics of time.

Fujifilm X-T4 f/5.6 1/60 s 46.6 mm 800 ISO

Some few people are born without any sene of time. As consequence, their sense of place becomes heightened to excruciating degree. They lie in tall grass and are questioned by poets and painters from all over the world. These time-deaf are beseeched to describe the precise placement of trees in the spring, the shape of snow on the Alps, the angle of sun on a couch, the position of rivers, the location of moss, the pattern of birds in flock. Yet the time-deaf are unable to speak what they know. For speech needs a sequence of words, spoken in time.”*

*cited: Alan Lightman, Einstein’s Dreams

lens-artists: rock your word

A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word cairn comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn [ˈkʰaːrˠn̪ˠ] (plural càirn [ˈkʰaːrˠɲ]).

Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, they were raised as markers, as memorials and as burial monuments (some of which contained chambers). In the modern era, cairns are often raised as landmarks, especially to mark the summits of mountains. Cairns are also used as trail markers. They vary in size from small stone markers to entire artificial hills, and in complexity from loose conical rock piles to elaborate megalithic structures. Cairns may be painted or otherwise decorated, whether for increased visibility or for religious reasons.

A variant is the inuksuk (plural inuksuit), used by the Inuit and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America.*

*cited: Wikipedia

Video of Erin building a cairn submitted in response to Donna @ WindKisses’ lens-artists challenge: rock your world