Scientific Method.... A New View

The scientific method is not a recipe: it requires intelligence, imagination, and creativity.

 In this sense, it is not a mindless set of standards and procedures to follow, but is rather an ongoing cycle, constantly developing more useful, accurate and comprehensive models and methods.

·               Define the question

SELF CONNECTION (give to yourself by hearing what you have to give)

·               Gather information and resources (observe)

MUTUAL CONNECTION (give to others by hearing what they have to give)

·               Form hypothesis

SELF CONNECTION

·               Perform experiment and collect data

MUTUAL CONNECTION

·               Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis

SELF CONNECTION

·               Publish results

 MUTUAL CONNECTION

·               Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN

Traces of hope.

Pałac Kultury i Nauki: The controversial icon of Warsaw

The Palace of Culture and Science (also referred to as "The Russian Wedding Cake")

 "As the city's most visible landmark, the building was controversial from its inception. Many Poles initially hated the building because they considered it to be a symbol of Soviet domination, and at least some of that negative feeling persists until today. Some have also argued that, regardless of its political connotations, the building destroyed the aesthetic balance of the old city and imposed dissonance with other buildings.
However, over time, and especially in recent years, Warsaw has acquired a number of other skyscrapers of comparable height, so that the Palace now fits somewhat more harmoniously into the city skyline. Furthermore, since Soviet domination over Poland ended in 1989, the negative symbolism of the building has much diminished"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Culture_and_Science,_Warsaw

Shooting a bit of history.

The Shoot: Pałac Kultury i Nauki (Palace of Culture and Science)

This monumental building in the center of Warsaw has become, in a sense, one of the most recognizable structures of the city. If you see it, you know you are in Warsaw. 

The eye catching, and slightly hidden element found: 

The curious thing I found when walking around this unique skyscraper was a memorial line running along the floor. It turns out to be a reference marker in memory of where the Warsaw Ghetto wall ran during the second World War. Here is a bit more information about the wall and it's purpose:

"The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe. The Warsaw Ghetto was established by the German Governor-General Hans Frank on October 16, 1940. Frank ordered Jews in Warsaw and its suburbs rounded up and herded into the Ghetto. At this time, the population in the Ghetto was estimated to be 400,000 people, about 30%^[1] of the population of Warsaw; however, the size of the Ghetto was about 2.4%^[2] of the size of Warsaw. The ghetto was split into two areas, the "small ghetto", generally inhabited by richer Jews and the "large ghetto", where conditions were more difficult; the two ghettos were linked by a single footbridge. The Nazis then closed the Warsaw Ghetto from the outside world on November 16, 1940, by building a wall, topped with barbed wire, and deploying armed guards."  -Wikipedia

A photo borrowed from the website http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/en-us/100926.html

Flowing from rock to rock.

This collection called, "Flowing from rock to rock", was produced from images captured in the elusive city of innovation and rigid customs, Tokyo, Japan. The subject of my work  is the personally astounding revelation that people can only find themselves truly free by seeing through a lens of restriction. Structure, order, limits, boundaries, walls, whatever you would like to call them, exist all around us. The initial feeling when confronted with these seemingly oppressive things is to rebel and restore our sense of freedom which has been offended. So what could I possibly mean by stating that, in essence, restrictions make us free? 

I shall use one of my photos to further explain my view. The image titled "Goosebumps" is of a man standing in a temple facing away from its luminous door. If no door, nor temple, for that matter, existed, he would not be able to venture inside and feel the different atmosphere created by the filtered sun rays and the incense smoke trapped within the sanctuary. Without the building he would have no sense of any of these things and would have had no where to explore and challenge his freedom. These limitations or confines, in a sense, give us a place from where we can find comfort and grow stronger in order to become more open to travel outside the door.

As with all things in life though, a second side to this reality exists. Once we are strong and brave enough to risk more we may find ourselves very much attached to what gave us this original comfort, this our order, this our strong hold. The two sides of the coin, the beauty of accepting what is and letting it go, again and again.   

Portfolio: Flowing from rock to rock (HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!)

My Portfolio is unfinished and needs help. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated :)

Take me away

The service of taking me away.... and bringing me back again

I was wondering earlier this year how and what kind of photo project I should I start. It is a very difficult job choosing what you will spend your time on. One thing I have learned is that it is good to start with the things you know and then move on to the things that make you incredibly curious. So, what do I see everyday... or what don't I see. I started to think about this on the way home one day while riding the bus. I use the bus system here in Warsaw everyday and I realized that I hadn't really noticed the great service these men and women do for millions of people. People really use the bus system here. Not like in my home town in New Mexico. These buses get very packed early in the morning and late in the evening.
   Of course the men and women driving all of us around get paid since it is their job, but I don't know if they really realize how important their jobs are. Without them so many people would become stranded and all mobility would be greatly affected.
  At this point I knew that this was a project worth doing. I wanted to photograph the great service that is given to me and many each day in hopes to remind us all of something we may at times over look.  Enjoy!

Back in Action!

Wow! Its been so long. I have missed so much posting new photos. Unfortunately my dear computer fell very ill and lost all ability to start up. It's been out of commission for almost two months. After much support and a lengthy hard drive and software transplant, my computer is back up online. A HUGE thanks goes out to my awesome and incredibly computer savy husband, Slawomir, for sticking in there and figuring the whole problem out. :) Baci amore mio! You and your support through it all helped me to stay relatively sane. Thanks for not letting me die with the computer :)

         Although no photo processing was done during these several days, time was in no way wasted. I truly have come to believe that I needed this time to fully get a grasp of what I have decided to do with my life.

         In early November I had decided to completely re-direct my life and start living more purposely. By this I mean that I no longer wanted to go from job to job looking for something to believe in. I could always find something to believe in, but I never felt a true sense of identity in the work. Instead I wanted identify my beliefs from the inside. I knew I could form a path of my own.

 First, to set the path I had to reflect and face the thing I most feared, the thing I always ran away from. I run from it because I know it can hurt me the most. It can hurt me the most because I care for it the most. So, what is this thing?

Photography.

 I have always loved to take photos, but was always deathly afraid of showing my work to the world. Photography was always something very personal to me. I felt my photos to be mine and mine alone. I never thought anyone could fully understand the message I was trying to communicate in my photos.

You know what, I was right. - Nothing can be understood fully by another, since they are not you. Instead of seeing this as a negative thing I began to understand the true beauty of photography. A photograph with great power to move is actually one that does the opposite than simply communicate my idea. It is a photograph that generates thousands upon thousands of ideas and emotions. It inspires. Thats way the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words."

So, my goal:  -To create images that are worth a thousand words or more... preferably more :)

Okay so that's the goal, but how to go about achieving this goal. Well, these last couple of months have been dedicated to figure that out. No wasted time. Trust me.

Achieving anything of great value requires a lot of time, especially in the preparation phase.

Step #1:  Believe it!
                I had to come to believe with every fiber of my body that this was and is what I want to do
                with my time.

Not an easy task my friends.

 I discovered this very funny voice living inside me that always would pop out at some difficult times and say "But Margarita, photography? Really? Is there money in that? Can You really pull it off?" and so on the annoying voice went... over and over and over again. Menacing little voice.
No worries though. It started to disappear after the second month due to the appearance of new worries. Life, right?

These last couple of weeks I've been shooting, reading, organizing and basically clearing the space in my head to truly focus all further attempts on photography.
Wow, was it hard and by no means is the process over. I don't think it will ever be over.

  This time without my computer has helped me tremendously. A computer is a very distracting thing. With so many photos to process, so many new ideas to research, so many people to communicate your ideas to. I think I definitely needed this alone time to better focus my wish to communicate primarily through my photography.
 Much needed ground work has been set and fortified during this hard time.
 I hope my following photo posts reflect this change. I am confident that they will to some degree.

Okay, I have rattled on for long enough today.

Please stay tuned for new photo postings and for over all changes within my blog. I have many ideas for this space and am determined to make miracles happen ;)
 I must inform though that the changes will be coming little by little. This is one thing I have made a point to remember. "Rome was not built in a day." I don't want to burn myself out now. This firecraker intends on lighting up the sky for a while :)