André F. van Rooyen: 9. The way we look and the way we see

Not so long ago I watched an old lady reading her book in the sunny part of the departure lounge. She was reading, then stopped, took her glasses off, reflected - a faint smile occurred in her eyes - she paged back and re-read a passage, took the water bottle from her lap, opened it, held it up to her face, just to put it down and close it without drinking… She was engaged in her book. The following weekend, I saw a man sitting on a rock in Matobo going through the same motions - yet he had no book in his hands.. He was staring over Matobo, reading and thinking and reflecting… drinking it in like the old lady in the sunny corner of the departure lounge.

Sometimes bad weather makes good photos...

Look, and thou shall see… Its a basic principle of observation, yet so few of us actually practice this level of observation. A man whom I trusted and respected once said to me, “Stopping at what you see at first will leave your eyes unsatisfied and your mind a dull place filled with the mundane. Always look for more - go beyond the obvious - train your eyes and your mind never to be satisfied with what you see the first or second times.” Like the athlete becoming more efficient and elegant at his or her game, the eye can reach the same level of efficiency, and as it is for the athlete, it can be extremely rewarding. Seeing more will make your life that much more full and satisfying.

The places where trees root themselves to the rock
defies not only gravity but also logic.

Previously I wrote about the components of the system, the transitions and understanding the larger whole. To really see, you need to consider these factors, look again at what you are looking at, break it down into its components, the individual legos of the world, then see how they constitute a larger whole, see how they transition from the one to the other… in both space and time. Then when you are adept at doing this, look for the interactions and dynamics. One simple method to start is to look at the way water flows through the system.

The first major rains for the year trapped us in a cave today,
the wait for better light was worth it.

In this complex world - you will every now and again find a gem, something really worth exploring further. That is a good time to focus, and isolate – to explore the detail. Break the world down in the sub-systems, components, compounds and aggregations. Contemplate the scales, the circles within the circles until you get to the basis of it all. Then think about how it all works together. Like the way a Commiphora or some other hardy tree finds a way to grow in the crevices between rocks, high above the ground. Or the way a rock has been balancing on another for millennia! Or, go deeper, simply look at a tree, in its surroundings, then isolate the tree, break it down into the different structures that makes a tree a tree, the trunk, branches, bark, the way the branches divide into a larger picture and not just the middle eye-level mundane world we normally stare at through the car window… See the larger picture, then from this select the elements worthy of closer inspection, but again look beyond the obvious. Keep searching even when what you see is pleasing. Read your world like you read a good book.