Chain of Connection

"In considering the study of physical phenomena, not merely in its bearings on the material wants of life, but in its general influence on the intellectual advancement of mankind, we find its noblest and most important result to be a knowledge of the chain of connection, by which all natural forces are linked together, and made mutually dependent upon each other; and it is the perception of these relations that exalts our views and ennobles our enjoyments."

-  Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859)

COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1

Wave - Particle Duality

"Quantum theory thus reveals a basic oneness of the universe. It shows that we cannot decompose the world into independently existing smallest units. As we penetrate into matter, nature does not show us any isolated “building blocks,” but rather appears as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of the whole. These relations always include the observer in an essential way. The human observer constitute the final link in the chain of observational processes, and the properties of any atomic object can be understood only in terms of the object's interaction with the observer. "

-  Fritjof Capra (1939 - )

The Tao of Physics

Representations of the World

"Many people would accept that we do not really have knowledge of the world; we have knowledge only of our representations of the world. Yet we seem condemned by our consitution to treat these representations as if they were the world, for our everyday experience feels as if it were of a given and immediate world."

- Francisco Varela

(1946 - 2001)

Infinity's Impenetrable Secret

"For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed."

- Blaise Pascal

(1623 - 1662)

2005-2015 Portfolio Selections

2005-2015 Portfolio Selection

In response to the gentle nudging and persistent reminders from friends and fellow photographers, I have finally gotten around to organizing and posting a selection of the portfolios I have worked on during the last decade. Interested viewers can peruse the 600+ images by clicking on the link above; the thumbnail view shows only 12 (of the 20 total available) portfolios that are available online. The images are actually a superset of the photographs included in the hardcopy version published a few months ago (which contains 'only' about 60% of the images in the online version). So, grab your favorite beverage, find a quiet place, settle back into a nice, comfortable recliner chair, and embark on your visual journey at leisure. I hope that at least a few images will resonate with you, kind reader of my blog.

Where the Sage Hides Himself

"It comes out from no source, it goes back in through no aperture. It has reality yet no place where it resides; it has duration yet no beginning or end. Something emerges, though through no aperture - this refers to the fact that it has reality. It has reality yet there is no place where it resides - this refers to the dimension of space. It has duration but no beginning or end - this refers to the dimension of time. There is life, there is death, there is a coming out, there is a going back in - yet in the coming out and going back its form is never seen. This is called the Heavenly Gate. The Heavenly Gate is nonbeing. The ten thousand things come forth from nonbeing. Being cannot create being out of being; inevitably it must come forth from nonbeing. Nonbeing is absolute nonbeing, and it is here that the sage hides himself."

- Chuang-Tzu

(4th Century BC)

Entities, Environments, and Patterns

"In an organic environment,

every place is unique,

and the different places also cooperate,

with no parts left over,

to create a global whole;

a whole which can be identified

by everyone who is part of it.

In short, no pattern is

an isolated entity.

Each pattern can exist

in the world only to the extent

that is supported by other patterns:

the larger patterns in which

it is embedded, the patterns of

the same size that surround it,

and the smaller patterns

which are embedded in it."

- Christopher Alexander

(1936 - )