And yet, my eye is not bored….

“The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.” W. H. Auden

This entry was posted on November 25, 2012 by Lemony. It was filed under Tree and was tagged with Nature Photography, Panasonic Lumix LX5, Photography, Repetition, Trees, W. H. Auden.

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12 responses

yoshizen

Ha ha ha . Who is Auden. He might be an expert to convert a notion to a word
though, he was not living in the world of repeating CM on the media nor an expert to
analyze the psychological effects of them.
To express your YET, posterised and patternized repeating images were very effective.

November 25, 2012 at 8:42 am

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- Lemony (Gr)Egghead
  
  Hi, Yoshi-sensei. Auden is actually a fantastic poet (some might say one of the finest and most influential anglophone poets of the twentieth century). I couldn’t help but think of these lines when I stood on a tree-lined sidewalk on a street in my neighborhood. The trees are almost identical, but I found something wonderful about the intricate pattern they made as I looked through them. The repetition was exciting to my eye, and not at all boring. Your point, however, about our living in a different time, when we are constantly exposed to (and bombarded by) visual repetitions is a very interesting one. I’m so glad you mentioned it!
  
  November 26, 2012 at 1:08 am
  
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  - yoshizen
    
    I know Auden though, but I don’t think he can justify everything he said, as if like an Authority.
    Regardless what ever he said, I was always annoyed by repeated announcement much more than
    the same flowers on the corner.
    All the plant keeps their pattern though, we still love to see small differences they makes.
    
    November 26, 2012 at 2:35 am
    
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John & Lois

Wonderful repeating patterns that keep the eye moving through the image.

November 25, 2012 at 12:12 pm

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krikitarts

This does not strike my eye as repetitious at all, but rather inviting and fascinating. It reminds me much more of spring than of autumn. Very nicely seen!

November 25, 2012 at 11:57 pm

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- Lemony (Gr)Egghead
  
  Thank you, Gary! Not only for these nice words, but for your continued support and visits!
  
  November 26, 2012 at 1:27 am
  
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George Weaver

A cloud of beautiful white butterflies! There really is no repetition here. All is surprising and delightfully random. The dark branches anchor the floating leaves so very well. I love this one!

November 26, 2012 at 4:28 am

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Hyunjin Elros Park

Beautiful!
Your photo makes me desire to have a trip with my camera =)

November 26, 2012 at 1:20 pm

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Finn Holding

Can two trees ever be rightfully accused of repetition? I think they’re like the ripples on a lake – constantly changing and evolving.

It’s a very interesting quote by WH Auden, I can see what he means.

November 26, 2012 at 5:50 pm

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- Lemony (Gr)Egghead
  
  You absolutely right, Finn. That’s a wonderful point about trees.
  
  November 29, 2012 at 12:35 pm
  
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mmtread

I reproduce it here in its entirety – an amazing poem. And thanks for sharing your amazing photos.

Musee des Beaux Arts

W. H. Auden

About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood:
They never forgot
That even the dreadful martyrdom must run its course
Anyhow in a corner, some untidy spot
Where the dogs go on with their doggy life and the torturer’s horse
Scratches its innocent behind on a tree.

In Breughel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away
Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water, and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.

November 26, 2012 at 9:41 pm

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elmediat

Beautiful composition.

December 11, 2012 at 4:24 am

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