Emily R. Ryan SHIFT
FOCUS
11
T F I SH
FOCUS Emily R. Ryan 2
3
Copyright Š 2016 by Emily R. Ryan
. emilyrayryan.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author. Design, text, and photographs by Emily R. Ryan Printed by Lulu.com, Raleigh, NC
4
In a wondrous world we rush around, distracted by the day’s complications not here, always there missing the quiet beauty in the spaces we occupy Buzz, ping, beep, tweet, vreeee yet again, attention jumps, seduced by the frivolous, we gorge on info, a hot electronic feast for an artificial mind Each and every day we rush, scramble, flit, dash, fly to meetings, dates, appointments entangled in all the details of coworkers, friends, lovers, and family We must stop, undo our blinders, open our eyes, and discover marvelous new, old, and hidden treasures, here and there ‘round us revealed when our focus shifts –Emily R. Ryan 5
6
What does it mean to FOCUS? We focus all the time on our work, our devices, our worries, our interactions. While we are completely in tune with what we read on our phones, we fail to engage the actual space around us. We move through the beauty around us but we fail to see it. It is out of focus because our attention is on the things we need to get done every day. We are like horses with blinders on, focused only on where we are going with our family, friends, work, and what is happening in our electronic worlds. If we decide to take some time to shift our FOCUS instead to the natural and manmade world around us, we will see things we never noticed before that are right in front of, behind, above, and below us. We will also see brand new things every day if we shift our FOCUS. A new focus can change our selves and make us more connected to our world. This book presents what I saw once I put my electronics down and cleared my head of work, deadlines, and the worries of life. You will see different things than I did, but they are certain to be wonderful if you take some time to shift your FOCUS.
7
8
The natural world makes intricate patterns of light and color and shape and line. 9
Spider silk shrinks to half its length when exposed to water and is stronger than steel fiber that is the same thinness.
10
The intricacies of the web show off the spider’s master weaving skills.
11
The Japanese word, Komorebi, means “light filtering through the leaves.� There is no English version of this word. 12
13
The Pennsylvania Smartweed has bright pink flowers and medicinal properties. 14
15
The shell the cicada leaves behind after molting is perfectly preserved. 16
17
A view not from the bridge, but under the bridge, reveals a complex combination of light, shadow, and reflection. 18
19
The Japanese Flowering Dogwood tree has an edible fruit that tastes like a pear. Birds, squirrels and chipmunks love these dogberries! 20
21
22
Look up! Clouds are white because they scatter all seven wavelengths of light. The sky is blue because air particles scatter more blue light than any other color. 23
The reds and yellows of the maple leaf are unmasked at the end of the leaf’s life. 24
25
26
When leaves lose water and die, the result is the crunchy sounds of fall.
27
Even in death, the lily leaf is elegant. 28
29
30
The Hawthorn berry is good to eat, but be careful to spit out the seeds, because like apple seeds, they contain cyanide!
31
32
A field of dreams in a field of beans.
33
34
The sycamore tree grows wider every year and the thin bark cracks and falls off creating curious patterns on the tree trunk. 35
Wasps chew wood fibers and their saliva breaks it down to a papery substance that they use for their nests.
36
37
38
The sun makes its way into dark spaces by reflection. 39
40
Every slat of wood in a fence is constantly evaporating or absorbing moisture. When it is dry, the wood shrinks, leaving gaps that allow the sunshine through.
41
42
All metals reflect the different colors of light. 43
44
Disintegrating curtains grace the windows of the former Griffith-Smith Menswear store. 45
Light can transform an ordinary object. 46
47
48
Concrete sentinels offer a resting spot in the sun. 49
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” –Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman’s Odyssey
50
51
The cellular shade’s air pocket is designed like a bee’s honeycomb.
Venetian blinds are thought to have come from Persia around the 1500s. 52
53
Two skinny rooms hidden in plain sight. 54
55
Gethsemane Hall in York City is a tiny castle built in the Richardson Romanesque Style. 56
57
58
One of the most difficult graffiti styles to perfect is Wildstyle because of its complicated interlocking letters.
59
60
Outside of Pippi’s Pen Shoppe in York City are comfortable seats to sit and contemplate writing. 61
The bell tower of the historic landmark, First St. John’s Lutheran Church in York City, is adorned with a Celtic Cross. 62
63
64
The word “chair” comes from the Latin “cathedra,” and Greek “kathedra,” which mean throne and sit down. 65
66
Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone State because it was in the middle of the first 13 colonies. 67
The front doorway of Martin Library in York City is adorned with a swans’ neck pediment and a pineapple finial. 68
69
70
Plato is credited with the idea that you can create a third color by mixing two other colors together.
71
72
Metal and glass blend to give a sense of openness and light. 73
A property of metals is that they’re malleable and can be made into both intricate and simple designs. 74
75
76
Headstones tell the story of a community. 77
Right-angle cracks in a brick wall mean the foundation is not stable. This building could collapse. 78
79
You are being watched! Most public buildings built before 1940 had humanized faces in their ornamentation. 80
Even in a state of disrepair, the rose window on the front of the former Zion Lutheran Church in York City is elegant.
81
Simple beauty in disrepair. 82
83
Shift Your Focus I hope you enjoyed seeing the magnificent things that I discovered when I untangled myself from my electronics, my work, and my worries and focused on the world around me. Now it is your turn to go out and shift your FOCUS.
84
See What You Can See... 85
Photographer’s Notes After working last winter on a photo essay of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, a bridge that connects the two river towns, Columbia and Wrightsville, PA, I realized that an ordinary thing like a bridge, that is passed over and by every day, is actually quite beautiful once you take the time to focus on its many stunning aspects. With this book, I expanded that idea–that if we take the time, we will see amazingly beautiful things all around us. The 57 images that are presented in this book were chosen from over a thousand photographs I took in York, PA from the beginning of September through October 2014. My goal was to see what I could see when I set aside my everyday distractions. With my Cannon Rebel XSi, I set out to capture a new way of seeing the spaces and objects around me. I took the time to get up close to or to look at things in different ways. No matter how big or small, I wanted the details of what was around me to emerge. The poem presented at the beginning of the book is a Choka, a form of Japanese poetry. The poem describes what we do every day and offers a path to something different—a shifted focus. I decided to add a fact, saying, or quote, to each image to tell something interesting about that photo’s content. Here are the sources of the information in the capttions.
Sources p8. Levi, Herbert W. “Spider Webs.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 June 2014. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. p10. Sanders, Ella F. “11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures.” RSS. N.p., 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 4 Oct. 2014. p12. Askew, Shawn D., and John W. Wilcut. “Pennsylvania Smartweed Interference and Achene Production in Cotton.” Weed Science 50.3 (2002): 350-56. United States Department of Agriculture. Web. 14 Oct 2014 86
p14. M, Erin. “BEYONDbones.” BEYONDbones. Houston Museum of Natural Science, 7 June 2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. p18. “Wild Birds Unlimited: Caught Red Handed: Theft of My Dogberries.” Wild Birds Unlimited: Caught Red Handed: Theft of My Dogberries. Wild Birds Unlimited, 2 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2014. p21. “Weather Wiz Kids Weather Information for Kids.” Weather Wiz Kids Weather Information for Kids. Weather Wiz Kids, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
p21. Gibbs, Philip. “Why Is the Sky Blue?” Why Is the Sky Blue? May 1997. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
p76. Miley, Michelle. “Dangers of Cracks in Brick Walls.” Home Guides. SFGate, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
p29. Pesaturo, Janet. “Hawthorn Berries: Identify, Harvest, and Make an Extract - One Acre Farm.” One Acre Farm. Anet@ouroneacrefarm.com, 3 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
p78. Scott, Gregory J. “Don’t Blink: Faces and Figures Watch from Facades.” LancasterOnline. N.p., 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
p33. Still, Douglas, and Fiona Watt. “Why the sycamore sheds its bark.” The Daily Plant : NYC Parks. NYC Parks, 14 Oct. 2014. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
p79. Hilton, John. “Downtown York Group Hopes to Turn Former Zion Lutheran Church into a New Home for Ministry.” Ydr.com. N.p., 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
p34. Hadley, Debbie. “How Wasps Build Wasp Nests.” About Education. About Education, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. p39. Deziel, Chris. “Will Privacy Fence Slats Swell or Shrink?” Home Guides. SFGate, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. p50 Kumpel, Fred. “Cellular Shades and Pleated Shades.” Stricklands Window Coverings. Stricklands Window Coverings, 22 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. p54. Butcher, Scott D. “Virtual York - Gethsemane Hall.” Virtual York - Gethsemane Hall. N.p., 2002. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. 57. Hiramoto, Takuya. “The Words: Graffiti Glossary.” The Words: Graffiti Glossary. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2014. p65. “Pennsylvania State Nickname.” Pennsylvania State Nickname. States Symbols USA, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. p66. Scott, Butcher D. “Virtual York - Martin Library.” Virtual York - Martin Library. N.p., 2002. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. p69. Semanick, Brenda. “The History of Paint.” History of Paint. N.p., 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. p72. Helmenstine, Anne M. “What Properties Make Metals Unique?” About Education. About Education, 25 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. 87
88