* Since recently we've been looking at some of my infrared photographs, and many people have started following me since I first posted this video, I thought I would repost this one. With the exception of Gladstone Eyre's painting, all these photographs are taken in infrared.

I'm still in Melbourne, but will be returning to Launceston on Tuesday evening. Cheers, John.
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A Walk Through the Cataract Gorge with an Infrared Camera.

“fleeting, transient, transitory, ephemeral, evanescent, fading” – Synonyms for “fugitive light”.

Ubi amor, ibi oculus est. - I discovered this Latin quote as the title of chapter 8 in Sally Mann’s photographic memoir, “Hold Still” (Back Bay Books, 2015). It's translated simply as, “Where there is love, there is sight.”

The key to photography is not the best camera gear, a college degree, or even the quality of objects being photographed. The key to discovering the essence of the light in any given location is love.

Phenomenologists would argue that this signifies a subjective relationship with the subject, and the great Jewish philosopher Martin Buber (1878-1965) would call this an “I-Thou” interaction. Love of a location (not the same as thinking it is beautiful, I might add, because true love looks beyond the ephemeral beauty of a place) opens our inner eye to the possibilities the reflected light offers us as a photographer.

But what happens when that light is also invisible to the naked eye?

In the case of these photographs my simple point and shoot compact camera (Panasonic DMC-TZ40) converted for monochromatic infrared allows us to see part of the invisible light spectrum (above 720 nms). The physical properties appear essentially the same, but there is an undoubted strangeness to the quality of light. Living things all take on a white glow, water and skies are darkened. We have to look more intently because we are seeing into another dimension. The great British exponent of infrared photography, Sir Simon Marsden (1948-2012), loved it for this very reason – it revealed “ghosts”.

As this slide show progresses we are taken on a journey up the ancient Cataract Gorge, near Launceston, to a landscape that seems almost timeless. But then we do indeed come upon a ghost of sorts. The old Duck Reach hydroelectric power station. The very first of its kind anywhere in the world. Some of the old equipment is still there and infrared does indeed give us a sense of apparitions. This is the only real sign of human presence (apart from the Hoo Hoo Hut and the suspension bridge at the First Basin).

At 5.42 in this video we are brought right back by nature to the Latin phrase, Ubi amor, ibi oculus est. Pareidolia is an interesting phenomenon. We tend to create meaningful images out of random patterns. I’ll let you decide what you see here, but I can tell you that when I took the photograph of these rocks it was a clear as night from day that they were profiles of two rocks kissing each other. Perhaps there is an important message for us here.

This slideshow of infrared photographs is only half the story. The other half is the music. It is a powerful piece by the contemporary Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi entitled “Logos”. Now in ancient Greek philosophy the logos was the way the inner Truth of the cosmos revealed itself in nature. In Christian theology, the apostle John identified it with Christ, the Word of God coming into the world to reveal the Way, the Truth and the Life. So perhaps - just perhaps - the pareidoliac image here of the kissing rocks is a revelation that at the heart of this universe which seems so random, cold and distant, there is a beating heart of Love. That surely is better than the alternatives of hopelessness, meaninglessness, violence and nihilism.

MUSIC: “Logos” from the album Elements by Ludovico Einaudi (2015).
ludovicoeinaudi.com/

PHOTOGRAPHS: Infrared taken by the Panasonic DMC-TZ40, converted to monochromatic infrared.

Tags:   Luminosity7 Launceston Tasmania Australia Panasonic DMC-TZ40 Converted compact camera Infrared Video Slideshow Cataract Gorge Nature Landscape FUGITIVE LIGHT (Infrared Video) John's Photo Philosophy

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The Wachau apricots are in full bloom!
Many of the more than 100,000 apricot trees are already in full bloom, transforming the Wachau World Heritage landscape into a unique natural spectacle with their white and pink blossoms.

Tags:   Dürnstein Melk Spitz Weißenkirchen Krems Apricots Marillenblüte Austria Flora Hiking History Lower-Austria Natur Tourismus Travel Weinbau Obstanbau

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Tau Emerald (Hemicordulia tau)

I am having a very lazy Sunday so some images from the recent files.

Tags:   Tau Emerald Hemicordulia tau Jade Plant Garden Hoppers Crossing Melbourne Victoria Australia Canon 7D ll

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Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)

One more from the Fantail's visit the other day.

Tags:   Grey Fantail Rhipidura albiscapa Garden Hoppers Crossing Melbourne Victoria Australia Canon 7D ll

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