Figure 1 – Floor mirror in the shoe department of a department store, Natick, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2019

Figure 1 is a photograph of a floor mirror that I took with my IPhone 6 in the shoe department of a local department store. First of all, I guess it may become one of those images remembering passing things. How long will department stores last, and what will be the re-purposing of local malls? But let’s not go there today. These questions are too profound for the frivolity of the photograph.

First, I tried very hard to keep myself out of the image. The soft shadow of my hands holding the camera just make it in. There were a number of aspects of this image that struck me when I was taking it and after. These are exercises in optics and geometry. First is the illusion that parallel lines meet before infinity. Second is the many and sometimes contradictory parallel planes that the mirror and the photographer’s perspective create. For me that is where a lot of the interest lies. This is because you try to figure out how the peculiar angles of the mirror first to the floor and second relative to the camera fall just the way they fall. Finally, there are the two diamonds which were my point of compositional focus. These diamonds, it seems to me, are what ultimately creates the composition.

Figure 1 -Archaeopteryx natickigensis non-fossil non-discovery, Natick, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

Jurassic Park fans and dinosaur aficionados, in general, are well aware of the theory that today’s birds evolved from dinosaurs. To see the veracity of this theory one has only to observe the jerky lumberings of the wild turkey. Alfred Hitchcock aside, we are surrounded by the descendants of dinosaurs. 

The earliest “proof,” or perhaps tease is a better word,  was a single fossil feather unearthed in 1860 or 1861 and described in 1861 by Hermann von Meyer. It is currently located at the Natural History Museum of Berlin. Then the first fossil skeleton, now known as the London Specimen (BMNH 37001), was unearthed in 1861 near Langenaltheim, Germany, and the story goes that it was given to a local physician, Karl Häberlein, as payment for medical services. He then sold it for £700 to the Natural History Museum in London. Significantly, this fossil was described in 1863 by Richard Owen and given the name Archaeopteryx macrura.

Until recently, twelve specimens have been recovered. An indication of just how rare species specific fossils can be. Significantly, I have discovered a 13th specimen, a new species of Archaeopteryx in the bedrock of the floor tiles of the Natick Mall. This is shown in Figure 1. The species here has been name Archaeopteryx natickigensis for its location. In reality the species A. natickigensis is a new non-species and contributes absolutely nothing to our understanding of the phylogeny of birds. Rather it speaks to the genesis of fissures in the bedrock and the need for improved mall. maintenance.

Figure 1 – Concentric Rings. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

I was attracted the other day by some concentric iridescent rings in a store window. The result is Figure 1, taken with my IPhone 6. What belies this image is our attraction to shiny objects. What is the fascination? And I am reminded of what Sir Isaac Newton famously said:

“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then in finding a smoother pebbly or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

There is a great appeal to shiny, smooth, and pretty objects – to the unusual and unexpected. I believe that this sits at the interface between the physiological phenomenon of sight and aesthetic experience. We are all drawn to iridescence. It dazzles us and awakens us. It is an almost religious experience. Indeed, the very root of the word iridescence is the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris, who was the messenger of the gods.

Figure 1 – The Queen of Hearts, (c) DE Wolf 2019.

I took the image of Figure 1 for two reasons: first, I was attracted to the vivid colors, and second, I liked the fact that the this storefront decoration was two panel, one behind the other; so you could by shifting angle and/or lateral position play with the composition. In the end, the composition collapses into a single frame flattened image. But then I realized that The Queen of Hearts has warm memetic associations with childhood, which were worth exploring. Which is to say that the rest of this blog will have nothing to do with photography.

Our youthful associations with the Queen of Hearts, begins with the the one who baked tarts. This comes from the poem The Queen of Hearts first published in The European Magazine, vol. 1, no. 4, in April 1782.

“The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,
    All on a summer’s day;
The Knave of Hearts
He stole those tarts,
    And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
    And beat the knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
    And vowed he’d steal no more”

This poem clearly refers to playing cards. But more germane to our childhood memories is the rather petulant queen by that name, who drives little Alice, so prone to ennui, to frustration in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. As Carroll himself tells us,

“The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head!’ she said, without even looking round.”

Very upsetting, indeed, especially for the victim. But rest assured as fast as the Queen of Hearts was condemning them, the King of Hearts was pardoning them. That king definitely had empathy, even though he was in truth just a playing card!

But, as is always the case with Lewis Carroll, there is much more to the story. Who was the Queen of Hearts? It seems very unlikely that the Queen of Hearts and her antics are meant to refer to the then Queen of England, Victoria. Nor is it really likely that this is redheaded Queen Elizabeth I. A much more credible argument was given by  C.W. Giles, in Punch on August 15, 1928.  I’m going to borrow from him liberally here. A key point to Gile’s argument is given by the passage from Alice in Wonderland,

“`Would you tell me,’ said Alice, a little timidly, `why you are painting those roses?’

“Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began in a low voice, `Why the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been a red rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and if the Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you know. So you see, Miss, we’re doing our best, afore she comes, to–‘ At this moment Five, who had been anxiously looking across the garden, called out `The Queen! The Queen!’ and the three gardeners instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of many footsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen.”

Painting white Roses red, where have I heard that before? Between 1455 and 1487 there were a series of English civil wars, collectively referred to as The Wars of the Roses  for control of the throne of England. These were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster, associated with a red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose. Eventually, the wars eliminated the male lines of both families. Significantly, in the end, victory went to Henry Tudor of the Lancaster line, who defeated the last Plantagenet king at the Battle of Bosworth Field. In Shakespeare’s Richard III, at this battle, Richard’s mount is killed. Unseated he famously cries out,

“A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse.”

But it remains to be asked, who exactly is this Queen of Hearts, who so anxiously shouts ‘Off with his head?’ In Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Queen Margaret contemptuously has the captured Duke of York crowned and the she coomands, “Off with the crown, and, with the crown, his head: Off with his head and set it on York gates.” It may also be noted that the Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester, Queen Margaret’s mortal enemy, has her ears boxed by Margaret where upon the Duchess vows, “She shall not strike Dame Eleanor unavenged.” Play ominous foreboding music here.

Returning to Alice, in Through the Looking Glass, Alice asks the white rabbit, 

“Where’s the Duchess?”

“Hush! Hush!” said the Rabbit in a low hurried tone…

“She’s under a sentence of execution.”

“What for?” said Alice.

“She boxed the Queen’s ears,” the Rabbit began…”

So in a very real sense the whole story of the Queen of Hearts is merely a history lesson for Alice about the War of the Roses and perhaps a further lesson about Shakespeare’s Henry VI. And seems quite likely that Queen Margaret is our decapitating royal.

But I think that the appeal of the image of the Queen of Hearts, especially in unsettled times, is the lesson it affords us about the ultimate fate of despots. Tyrannic dynasties, like decks of cards and houses built of them, are doomed in the end to fall. Alice reaches a breaking point of frustration. She ceases being tiny.

Let the jury consider their verdict,’ the King said, for about the twentieth time that day.

‘No, no!’ said the Queen. ‘Sentence first—verdict afterwards.’

“‘Stuff and nonsense!’ said Alice loudly. ‘The idea of having the sentence first!’

‘Hold your tongue!’ said the Queen, turning purple.

‘I won’t!’ said Alice.

‘Off with her head!’ the Queen shouted at the top of her voice.

Nobody moved.

‘Who cares for you?’ said Alice, (she had grown to her full size by this time.) ‘You’re nothing but a pack of cards!’

At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her: she gave a little scream, half of fright and half of anger, and tried to beat them off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her head in the lap of her sister, who was gently brushing away some dead leaves that had fluttered down from the trees upon her face.”

Figure 1 – Take off and landing, Sudbury, MA, January 20, 2019. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

There is a miserable storm in the Northeast – snow followed by ice and freezing rain. This always attracts birds to my backyard as they try desperately to fuel up against the cold. I was lucky to catch this ballet of a female cardinal coming in with gossamer wings for a landing as a male cardinal took flight to get away from her. It is a scene reminiscent of the linear array of incoming and outgoing flights at Logan airport – although flights there are scarce this morning.

Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens at 250 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture priority AE Mode, 1/1250th sec at f/7.1 with -1 exposure compensation.

Figure 1 – Shadows cast by a bench on the ground in midwinter, Lincoln, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2019

I took the image of Figure 1 with my ever-ready IPhone yesterday. It was a cold, crisp day with excellent light and shadows and I was walking with a friend through the sculpture gardens at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA. I was struck by the shadows cast by the slats in a bench on a cluster of stones behind. The principal draw to the eye and mind are:, of course, the shadows and their relentless linearity. But beyond that is the way that shadows like some scientific cartographic instrument cling to and define the contours of the Earth. We see through grades of shadow and light, and here the most two-dimensional of structures reveal the essential three-dimensional aspects of the scene.

Figure 1 – An empty bar through wavy glass, Natick, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

I took the image of Figure 1 of an empty bar scene through a pane of wavy or rippled glass – the kind they use to provide privacy on shower doors. Because the glass distorts rather than adding noise to the image, I’m not going to call this a photopictorialism study. Noise most accurately is the addition of a stochastic fluctuation into the intensity pattern; so really it is a distortion of intensity. Here, in contrast, the intensities are maintained but their position thrown into partial chaos. Additionally since the waves in the glass act as miniature lenses, there is a spatial correlation, at least over moderate lengths, within the image. The effect is a “pleasing one,” not so dissimilar to what the drunk at the bar would see.

Figure 1 – Reflections in blue glass, Natick, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2018

Over the holidays, I took the image of Figure 1 with my IPhone 6.0. It shows reflections in a blue glass art object. The piece had curves in multiple directions, which created great complexity in the reflections. The significant point is that there colors do not represent interference patterns, as for instance with an oil slick, but are, in fact, the distortions of various light sources and objects reflected in the glass. Look closely and you can even make out the photographer with his black wool cap and arm raised with camera bottom center and just to the left. You’ve always got to play with this kind of image to maximize the ideal perspective. Here the perspective creates a sense of flow, where the light seems to cascade downward.

Figure 1 – Eastern Bluebrd male, Sudbury, MA Dec. 30, 2018. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

I consider myself quite blessed that each winter the Eastern Bluebirds, Sialia sialis, visit my backyard trees and feeders. This passed weekend there was quite a flutter of them and I took advantage of a wonderful winter sunlight to capture the image of a male with deep blue plumage.

There is a majestic, thrilling magic to the bluebird. I feel content and complete each year when they return to my feeders. It would be too simple to talk to you and offer up quotes about the bluebird of happiness. To birders of my generation the expert field guide were always those of Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996) – drawings not photographs. So let me share instead the words that Peterson chose for his epitaph, which really defines why people are so drawn to the avian world.

“Birds are the most vivid expression of life.”

Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens at 310 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode, 1/500th sec at f/7.1 with -1 exposure compensation.