Category: Nature

Melancholy of Resistance

The title of László Krasznahorkai’s second novel can be seen as self-referential. The long sentences have to be pried out of this book.

By doing so, we uncover layer after layer. At the surface, there is a small town, taken over by a demagogue and a willing mob, resulting in destruction.

Then there is the conflict between individual interests and mass euphoria. The former are represented by János Valuska, a modern day Prince Myshkin, and musicologist György Eszter. Both encounter the whale, one of the ominous riddles of the book.

Mysterious in its incomprehensibility, it strongly affects János, but leaves György unaffected. So there is a second layer of contrast, namely how individuals resist. Neither János nor György are successful, as becomes dramatically clear when the mob enters the hospital.

After senseless destruction, the mob faces a completely unarmed victim, not understanding that the dumb fear, the utter lack of resistance which allowed that victim to bear this onslaught, was increasingly robbing them of power and that, faced by this sapping mire of unconditional surrender—though this is what had hitherto given them the greatest, most bitter pleasure—they would have to retreat.

After this, innocent János, who has witnessed this as an accomplice, descends into madness, while György seeks restitution.

There are more layers. There are the roles of art and spirituality, again represented by György and János. The brutally artificial Werckmeister harmonies that György studies are in conflict with the harmonies of the celestial bodies János dreams of.

Neither of them can succeed alone. And here we arrive at the melancholy: Maybe their resistance could have been successful if they could have found a common ground.

Infidelity (Mushroom 3)

After harvesting, cleaning, processing, eating, freezing, photographing my beloved chanterelles for over a month, it is maybe time to elope a little and have at least a careful look at what else is out there in the local woods.

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Let’s keep it anonymous. I don’t know enough about mushrooms to tell you their names.

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Nor do I know how safe they are. After all, I am just looking…

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Their beauty is admittedly tempting, though.

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Well, some of them look tastier than others.

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And this one’s best days are over. To be continued…

Two (Prairies II)

Today’s pictures are from an early morning visit to the prairies of the Columbia Mine Preserve in the middle of summer. 

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The light is extraordinary, as is the variety of life around you.

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In a few weeks, all the insects will become quiet, and the migratory birds will get ready to leave.

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The grass will become brown,

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and the trees will explode in color.

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This has been a strange year, and rarely have I longed more for it to be over.

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But there are still choices to be made.

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Archilochus colubris

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It’s almost time to say good-bye to the mimosas this year, but at the moment, they are still attracting visitors.

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This is the ruby-throated hummingbird. Annoyingly, I haven’t seen any adult males this year, who are responsible for the name. The adult females have, if my information is correct, a clear white throat, while the young males have a speckled throat, as the ones here. 

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They are hyperactive all day round, chasing each other as well as the larger birds, and chattering intensely. They must have a lot to talk about, unlike me. The one above is poking his tongue out a little. I think it can extend it quite a bit further. Amazing possibilities… 

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I never expected to take wildlife photos, I am not that patient. But sitting in the garden with a good cup of tea and just waiting for the birds to get into position is a surprisingly pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

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The 2-dimensional Nature of Time

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I must have said this before, the DePauw Nature Park challenges me to new views. Today I am trying to combine a wide format (3:1) with a shallow depth of field.

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These are per se contradictory, and to be effective, the shallowness has to be extreme.

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This sliver of sharpness acquires a strong horizontal nature, like a line of text in a book that we read, oblivious of the past and future lines. Time becomes horizontal. There is only one way to move, everything seems to be determined.

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Sometimes, it also becomes discrete, when there doesn’t seem to be a before or an after. There just is the singular moment, evidently still full of potential.

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This becomes less effective for things far away (or in the distant future) when it still seems possible to move forward and not just sideways, giving us the hope that there is free will.

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Is this all just perception? Can we think the barriers out of the way, by looking at them properly?

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9 is less than 10

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As hinted at earlier, Laowa has made a 9mm full frame lens, and I couldn’t resist.

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The lens is small, much smaller than the Samyang 10mm lens, which may come at a price. Its widest aperture is only 5.6, and there is a bit of distortion going on, but I can’t complain about sharpness.

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I think I’ll call this lens my black hole, it sucks everything in.

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No human eye is capable of a perspective like this. 

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The pictures here were taken a McCormick’s Creek State park, following the creek from its over-photographed waterfall  until it merges into the White River, a tributary to the Wabash, itself flowing into the Ohio, then flowing into the Mississipi. That’s a long trip for a little water.

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My trip was shorter, and a nice contrast to the loop of the Pate Hollows trail from a day ago.

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When you reach the end, that’s it. The only option is to turn back.

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Does one need this? A lens with extreme perspective? Or, to follow a stream until it ends?

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The reason is simple, sometimes: Turning back is not that different from changing the perspective.

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But learning is hard.

Seven Crossings

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Pate Hollow Trail is a 6 mile loop, with a few shortcuts as variations. In its longest version, it requires seven stream crossings.

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We follow them here counterclockwise, so to speak, if you look at the trail from above on a map.

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We also follow them in spring, when the streams carry water, for additional challenge.

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The crossings are small obstacles and excellent landmarks, telling how far we have progressed.

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The actual obstacles, however, are the in-betweens, where one has to climb up a few hundred feet just to descend again to the next crossing.

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So we can learn a lesson: progress is measured by landmarks, but achieved by what we do in-between.

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Care to join me for another round?

Turkey Run at 10mm

After my recent journey into gloom, it’s time to bring back some clarity with a fresh perspective.

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This is (again!) the Rocky Hollow Falls Canyon Nature Preserve in Turkey Run State Park, before sunrise and heat and people.

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The rock formations are extreme, and so is the perspective, with 10mm this is as wide as it gets (even though Laowa has announced a 9mm lens…) for full frame cameras.

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What’s the point? There is the effect, of course, which can be mind bending. 

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There also is the challenge. How do you avoid seeing something when everything is visible?

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But foremost, there is the possibility of getting lost, in a picture, or in taking pictures.

Big Sur 1993

To celebrate July 2nd, here I have some nostalgic pictures from 1993, scanned and cleaned up from old negatives.

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This is how the sun used to hover over the Pacific, seen from Highway 1, near Big Sur, where we were headed.

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It’s a day hike from the coast to the destination, so it’s good to get going in the morning and take advantage of the morning fog, until you reach the denser woods.

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Trees make bridges or block the way, like everything else.

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The destination? One of the hot springs hidden in the wilderness. I forgot the name, and I don’t have directions.

I wonder how all this looks today.

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