Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Even Slower


Looking at Jacob's recent photographs and especially watching him take his photographs has made me more interested in micro-drawing as well as really slow watching and looking.  When Jacob stands in the middle of twenty or so ducks that are grooming and settling down for the evening, he hardly moves.  He waits for a very long time before making careful, slow moves to lift his camera, bend down, or whatever he needs to do to get the shot.  His camera makes a barely perceptible click, and then he moves in slow motion to the next shot.  He seems to have an understanding of the principle of qualitative research that the research environment is affected and changed by the observer; and his quietness allows the air to settle before he attempts to take any photographs.

I, however, tend to rush in and flail around, disturbing not only air but bugs and birds and the very energy on site.  So this morning I imitated Jacob and stood without moving for what to me felt like an excruciatingly long time before making a move.  I wanted to draw the landscape of the zinnia in the vase in the kitchen, which I had drawn quickly yesterday, and I wanted to practice moving my eye in slow motion as well as my hand.
Then came the real test.  I went outside wearing boots and long sleeves to fend off the mosquitoes that usually attack me immediately, and I started watching the large turk's cap-like lily that grows at the edge of one of our gardens.  I wanted to learn what pollinates it, among other things.  It took a while before any insects showed themselves, but eventually I saw the small sweat bees that seem to be pollinating it as well as some white leaf-hoppers that have recently emerged from white cocoons, the remnants of which are along the stem of the lily.  I drew so slowly that the pen made no noise as it stroked the page.  It was around 9 in the morning, cool, few birds, Jesse nowhere in sight, quiet except for the occasional buzz of a bumble bee in the nearby bee balm (which bee seemed to have no interest in the lilies).  Oddly enough I was basically un-attacked by mosquitoes or gnats.  I played yoga class and counted my breaths.

5 comments:

  1. You're becoming a physicist! My cousin is one & talks about how experiments are effected by the observer! I even got to see an atom splitter once. Incredible! It was fun reading this post & learning how you slowed down and were able to really see! And if you're not gonna be a physicist, well then, you're in there in good company! Georgia O'Keefe said, "Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time." ♥

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  2. Thanks for this great comment, CC! I learned qualitative research in graduate school and when I was a teacher doing participant observation. I hadn't realized it was used in physics, but of course it would be. EVerything is so pleasingly connected!

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  3. Haha! I didn't know it was used in participant observation! LOL! But it would be! ;) Love the connection! ♥

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  4. Stop, stop, stop everything. Isn't Jacob still about THREE? How does he takes these photos? What kind of camera?? Need much, much, much MORE DETAIL ;-)

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  5. He IS still 3! Isn't that amazing? To find out more detail about what camera he uses and his processes, go to his blog at jacob-diehn.blogspot.com. On one of his May posts he says he uses a Nikon D5000 camera. He has just ordered a macro lens to use for closeups, but all his pictures up till now were taken with his telephoto lens or with maybe the regular lens that came on his camera, which he found on eBay.

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