I had been chipping at the world idly, and had by accident uncovered vast and labyrinthine further worlds within it.Some discover the poetic allure of worldly phenomena by accident, others discover with intent. Attentiveness to sensual phenomena requires discipline. Attentiveness must be practiced and exercised like one might practice running, yoga, meditation, or tai chi.
— Annie Dillard, An American Childhood
Push it. Examine all things intensely and relentlessly.Originating with the fine art photography movement in the 1890s, photographers have used the mental and physical act of curating visual input to tune and exercise the brain to visual receptiveness.
— Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
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For many photographers, photographing is a discipline of
Attentiveness with intentErosion Spider above is one of the 2014 European Geosciences Union photo contest winners. The image was made by John Clemens in the Grand Canyon.
Toward the bottom of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA, lies the Middle Cambrian Bright Angel Shale, a variably coloured sequence of relatively soft sedimentary rocks, here sculpted by erosion into a spider-like outcrop decorated with small green desert shrubs.The curated photographs of the annual European Geosciences Union photo contest are a feast for the senses. Photography is a visual medium curiously capable of transporting one to a place where the other senses come to life if only in one's imagination.
— John Clemens
Art is always the replacement of indifference by attention.
— Guy Davenport
REFERENCES
- An American Childhood by Annie Dillard.
- EGU Photo Contest.
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard.
