Something & Nothing ~A Précis

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder” –E.B. White

White was conveying the fact that wonder will not necessarily present itself to you in the most obvious of ways. When we stumble upon wonder it might only be as the result of a slight change of circumstances, which in turn moves us away from our over-focused thoughts and task-driven actions of our everyday lives. We stop what we are currently absorbed in doing, breathe deeply and instead of marching on in monotony, we look around. In doing this we see what was previously invisible to our recognition of wonder, as well as becoming inspired to be curious and ask questions. Socrates states that “wisdom begins in wonder” and Sir Isaac Newton only came across the notion of gravity, because he bothered to ask why an apple fell from a tree. The outcome of his curiosity resulted in the human race gaining insight about a very important factor which governs our everyday lives.

The photographs from Chapter 4, Something and Nothing, of the book, The Photograph as Contemporary Art by Charlotte Cotton (2004), lend themselves to mirroring this same notion of wonder. Everyday objects from our lives are not primarily subjects of wonder, however, when framed in a photograph, their wonder is brought to our attention. “What we see depends mainly on what we look for” –a quote which was previously posted. We are encouraged to see the wonder that somebody finds through capturing a moment on film, when they decide to take a step out of the ordinary and seek out that which may be defined as extraordinary, wondrous or mesmerising. And this is all because an object is seen in a different light or at a different angle.

A new twist on an ordinary household object or a change in a familiar space can be as simple as an alteration from its original position or scale, to the slightly more complicated comparisons and contrasts that take place between objects when new relationships are formed. By being ‘out of the ordinary’, this genre of photographs offers a certain playfulness to preconceived concepts and challenges the ideas underlying them. Viewers are intrigued by the story behind the item/s –how did it come about?

The photographs from Chapter 4 capture moments in time, which in turn offer a glimpse of human behaviour, possibly even echoing our own as an individual. One of the artists whose photograph appeared in this chapter and was also discussed, was that of Felix Gonzalez-Torres. He was noted to use his work to capture a particular image, but allow the viewer the space to feel and understand his work through their own personal experiences. A sense of familiarity with the unfamiliar.

We benefit from being curious, even if it did kill the cat. We will never gain knowledge and wisdom, if we never ask questions, challenge monotony and play around with ideas. Wonder encourages us to keep moving forward and to continue growing.

“Onward and upward!” –C.S. Lewis.

{The above photograph is my own. It was taken in Creighton.}