Ecotone: Writing About Place: PhotographingPlace/Chaos

You must have chaos to give birth to a dancing star. I say unto you, you still have chaos within yourselves." -- Nietzsche

Show us something of chaos.

Photos

Upper Newport Bay Ecological and Nature Preserve, Newport Beach, California. "I don't think that you can get more chaotic than a salt marsh....The waters bring pieces of inland California to the flats and from the variety of detritus and mud, life constructs itself. Here, you can witness the nativity of dancing stars." More at [Pax Nortona] [Gallery at Paths of Light]

Discussion

I'm running a day behind. Tomorrow I plan to check out a hike at Upper Newport Day. There are plenty of examples of chaos about: all I have to do is place myself on the rim of the hilltop and look down over the city: seemingly planned, but every plan runs into each other at odd angles. -- Joel

Beautiful picture, Joel, Thank you. --Beth

Why thank you, Beth. If you liked that one, you may enjoy [This new gallery of images from the same place]. [Wicked commentary here]. Bill? Nancy? Are you guys in on this? -- Joel

It's so interesting to see what looks like a peaceful scene referred to as chaotic -- it took me outside of my own notions of urban chaos. (I'd like to be in, but I don't have any pictures ready -- I'm not a speedy photographer. I might link to some pictures by others... or contribute later. Sorry -- if I get a digital camera I may get better at deadlines.) -- Nancy

I have been disappointed with my ideas for pictures of chaos - pictures of my desk or my workbench? the inside of my head? Iraq? I echo Nancy's reaction to your scenes - maybe that will get me seeing things in a different light. I am still working on it. -- Bill

Reading about fractals changed my whole perception about order and chaos, Nancy and Bill. Just look at any tree and you will see a unique take on treeness determined by its distinct place, which, in its turn, is affected by random events such as what dog stopped next to it; whether it has ever burned or been pruned; what fertilizer has been placed or washed up on its roots; or what the rainfall was like. Poplars look alike, but they turn out differently. Genotype provides for a certain uniformity, but phenotype indicates that the experience of each is unique.

I'm glad that you are rethinking your views, Bill and Nancy. If you study that scene, you will find several instances of disorder: the distance between and the height of the waves coming in to shore; the angles of the waves; the shape of the plant clusters in the water; the distribution of plants on the amorphous island; the variety of trees on the far shore; the detectably different shapes of trees of the same species on the far shore; the bird tracks in the mud; the foam at the lower right hand edge -- to name a few things. We humans group things as I grouped them in this picture. But there's still chaos within the four corners of the frame.

For another perspective, try going out and taking a close look at a paved road. You will quickly see ripples and scatterings of pebbles. Or, Bill, check your lawn. Take a few photographs and look at them closely. The blades of grass don't march in neat phalanxes. Chaos is all over the place. It's all a matter of how you break things up when you view them.

Looking forward to seeing what you discover on your own! -- Joel

Yes, I think I will look for chaos in such quiet things. I had to drive through such chaotic streets today, to the chaotic Passport Office, where I waited in line for two hours and