Sunday 5 October 2014

Playing With Water


I have a friend who loves water, who can sit for hours and watch it coming from the tap, who tries to scoop it up with his hands and who laughs at just the sound of it running. 

This is because of learning difficulties and a chromosomal abnormality.


But I think he may be right anyway. The two of us have spent many happy hours playing with water and sometimes I feel as though I glimpse the joy and beauty that he sees.


The coolness. The shininess. The running, dripping freedom of its movement. Reflections. Distortions. The darkness and the brightness. The jangled mirrors and the splinters of light. The elaborate curlicues of mystery. Well, I told you he saw it differently to us. 


There are colours in there that we might not see. Shapes that come and go without our noticing. Patterns that just slip through our fingers. There's music that we might not hear. Maybe a rhythm that we don't know how to dance to.


My friend understands this so much better than I do. He doesn't fit into the drab world that the rest of us have created. I can only watch him and guess at what he sees. 


I've got another friend plays with water too. She colours it, splashes it, lets it drip and run down the walls. She spends all day shut inside a room with her memories and dreams, conjuring up magic out of nothing. The water dries and stains the paper. She goes to the tap and brings more. It dances and sparkles as she conjures, experiments and casts her spells. She delights in the patterns and movement. 

This is because she's an artist.


She closes the door and steps out into the evening rain. Her head is still full of pictures of lakes and rivers, seashores and marshes, storms and waterfalls. 

He watches the raindrops on the kitchen window and wonders how long till bathtime.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And, like I promised in my last post, although it's not much to do with water, here is a freaky picture of fungi for you. All I've done is turned up the colour to show you what's hidden from our eyes. Maybe some reptile or bird of prey has eyes that can recognise these colours. Just because we can't normally see it, doesn't mean it's not real.







Take care.



22 comments:

  1. Hello, John! Perfectly lovely! This is another my favorite post of yours. I'm marveled at your photography; the photos made me understand there are melody and rhythm. I like the 3rd image best. 6th image reminds me of Hokusai’s waves, and some images remind me of Japanese art “Suminagashi”, Indian ink marbling, or the swirling patterns created by collaboration of a person and water. I like to watch the surface of water and enjoy the ever-changing patterns and colors and when I capture the moment with my camera, the result is much more magically beautiful than I see with my eyes. “Just because we can't normally see it, doesn't mean it's not real.” Is so true.

    I love water, too, thought I don’t do the same thing like your friend. One of my sweetest memories as a child is I woke up to the sound of running water from the kitchen where my late mother prepared breakfast early in the morning. Thanks for sharing.

    Yoko

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  2. That fungi is exquisite John.
    You have so well summed up the thought of someone with learning difficulties. I taught such folk for some years - I have always marvelled at some of their insghts and decided long ago that in many areas they are so much 'cleverer' than we are.

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  3. TOTALLY adore this post John.. Water images to me are magical and I think you have two very special friends here.
    P.s. The fungi....WOW, would make a fab print don't you think!

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  4. To think and see in a different way is a remarkable gift and should never be dampened. These water shots are so relaxing and beautiful, and the fungi shot is very psychedelic!!

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  5. These images are amazing, both the water and the fungi. I don't think I've ever seen anything like them. They're an inspiration to get out and try something similar. I was especially struck by the 2nd one. Great work!

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  6. Great photographs and thoughts regarding the water. I love what you did with the polypore fungus in that last photo, it looks amazing!

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  7. A lovely post and wonderful photographs. I would like to see water through your friends eyes - he must live in a beautiful world.

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  8. A wonderful post! I believe that the oddities and quirks that occur in our complicated brains give rise to creativity, genius and leaps of the imagination - and the two friends you mention are examples of this. I think you probably believe this too.

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  9. You have a good eye seeing great photos in something I would not have considered taking a photo of. Well done.

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  10. So much insight here. It's what I love about art -- the offer to see what someone else sees.

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  11. The patterns in water are fascinating to watch and you have caught some wonderful ones here. The fungi shot is incredible.

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  12. I think water is pretty amazing and I love your photos of it. I'm astonished to see how much colour there is in the fungi!

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  13. I love clicking on your blog and being transported. This post is so breathtaking. The mesmerizing beauty of water, all that light and flow and swirl. Ever-changing beauty. And that fungus photo is spectacular. Wow! Thank you.

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  14. The jangled mirrors and the splinters of light. - Love that part so much, beautifully describes water, and this post is so dreamy and the photo of the fungi is stunning. There was a programme recently on animal senses which showed all these hidden colours that we can't see and it was really interesting! Loved your comment on my last post too, I think I am in good company indeed! :D - Tasha xxx

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  15. You are a fantastic photo artist. I viewed your fine slideshow which enlarged your photos. Your descriptions of your friendships with water folks was intriguing. There is a world of folks that see beauty where we do not. But maybe with a better fine tuned eye we can begin to perceive the beauty they see.-- barbara

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  16. A beautiful, sensitive post, John. This is a wonderful series of capturing the beauty to be found around us, if only we'd slow down and truly observe. Thank you for sharing (and dropping by my blog again). I imagine your friends are greatly blessed by your caring contribution to their lives.

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  17. There is a lot more to see in nature than we ever imagined and you have captured some of it with these extraordinary shots. You have some interesting friends.

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  18. Great shots and very artistic John.

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  19. Beautiful post, John, we would all do better to stop and stare sometimes.

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  20. John, your photos are lyrical poem of pure wonder and delight. I can only marvel at them. You really should exhibit them to a larger public. I am sure you could make a pretty penny, not necessarily even selling the mounted work but letting people order prints. I hope you do not withhold this wonder from other discerning eyes.
    Obviously when you took the photos you were looking with the eyes of a child or your good friend.

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