Lending

Gorgeous! ( )

This is a photography book. It has virtually nothing to do with Chaos. ( )

The photographs taken by Eliot Porter are absolutely amazing and alone are worth every penny I paid for the book and more. Paired with an almost melodic text written by James Gleick, whose words seem to frame the photographs, the book becomes an experience. Take it outside and read it under the branches of your favorite tree.

http://nicolevlozano.blogspot.com/2009/05/kilnformed-soda-lime-glass-close-up-of... ( )

When I grabbed the book I admit James' name did sound slightly familiar to me, but I didn't really dwell on it. Perhaps if I had thought on it more I would have been better prepared for what was inside.

The photographs are beautiful. Not simply nature shots, but tiny pieces of perfection focused in on to the exclusion of the all else. The scale ranges from an aerial view of an entire flock of flamingos to the bark on a single tree.

However seeing this as simply a pretty picture book is the same as seeing the tree bark as simply part of some tree, to be glanced at and then passed by. The text is about Chaos Theory, by a man who wrote a rather well known book on the subject. I have to admit not only having read parts of that book. The text is about systems within systems. Unpredictability and patterns of nature around us, in all scales.

I had been hoping to find an art book to inspire me with some of the photos I have been taking lately. And this was achieved. All the exotic locations the photographer went to over the years seem to fade to irrelevance, as pictures of leaves in Costa Rica and the Glaciers in Antarctica have the same impact as a picture of leaves floating in a puddle and the bark of a tree from right in the states where the photographer lives. It is inspiring, these patterns are all around us, waiting to be noticed. My photos are but pale imitations of such works. But the very act of taking them makes me pause and notice these things more around me. The act of creation brings it into focus.

I also found a interesting discussion of natural philosophy, chaos theory and the different ways to look at the world around us. Just like the tree bark photo the book deserved a second look for the underlying messages to be imparted so did this book. ( )