{"id":3819,"date":"2015-02-06T09:21:30","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T09:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3819"},"modified":"2015-08-11T09:16:23","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T09:16:23","slug":"1-duda-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3819","title":{"rendered":"Dan Duda and Leah Oates: The Physics of Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/?page_id=1134\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>Return to Table of Contents<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Dan Duda and Leah Oates collaborated on the creation of this essay.    Leah Oates is a photographer working out of New York City and Dan Duda is a scientific writer living in Lititz, Pennsylvania (USA).\u00a0 This is Dan&#8217;s second essay for VJIC on photography and Quantum theory.\u00a0 Leah Oates visual dialog is linked from this essay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3710\">Leah Oates Visual Dialog<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3710\">Transitory Space<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3727\" style=\"width: 802px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Pelham-Bay-4-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3727\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Pelham-Bay-4-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\u00a9 Oats\" class=\" wp-image-3727\" height=\"514\" width=\"792\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-3727\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a9 Oats<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Leah Oates<\/strong><em> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHumans leave traces and artifacts of our consciousness everywhere in our environment. Contradictory realities can be found co-existing wherever we look. They\u2019re in what we choose to think; what we choose to believe; and, how we choose to act. And, they can be found in what we choose to observe.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Dan. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Why has science become so bizarre? Why does it take a super genius to decipher what reality is all about? Why can\u2019t a scientist say \u2018this is how it is,\u2019 in a way that everyone <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hoLXZEt4QYM?rel=0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p> just understands? Well, at least there is a relatively easy answer to those questions. Simply stated, human senses and intellect have developed in a way that is most useful for survival. For example, stereoscopic vision with color perception was valuable for life in forests, trees and plains\u2014comprehending the structure of four levels of the multiverse\u2014not so much. The ability to develop strategies for hunting, gathering and cultivating a continuing food supply is essential. Grasping the significance of wave\/particle duality wouldn\u2019t even make it to the current \u2018must have for survival\u2019 list. However, a working understanding of these deep issues is critical to our continued technological progress\u2014and understanding existential threats on a macro level just might be needed for the future survival of mankind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Ironically, art can provide a bridge of understanding to a reality that escapes the severe boundaries of our intuition. Leah Oates is among a group of artists who employs photo techniques that express feelings transcending the limits of our rational perceptive ability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"333\" height=\"250\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px;\" float:=\"\" left=\"\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/117804796\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen=\"webkitallowfullscreen\" mozallowfullscreen=\"mozallowfullscreen\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Leah. <\/strong><em>When I look back on a moment it\u2019s full of impressions and multiple exposures capture this. I make these exposures on specific frames using a 35mm and medium format camera. This allows me to display a more complete correlation of experiences that a single exposure just misses.<br \/><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Quantum Tunneling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u201cAccording to Quantum Mechanics, a particle has a definite probability of being anywhere in the universe\u2026We can thank <\/em>[this]<em> Quantum Tunneling for the Sun\u2019s heat.\u201d <\/em>Tyler Simko <br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Dan. <\/strong>There are many recent discoveries in particle physics that bend our rational minds to the breaking point (and sometimes beyond). For example, why does the Sun shine? If you ask a scientist he\u2019ll tell you that the enormous mass of our star causes intense gravity which, in turn, causes atoms of hydrogen to fuse into helium. That, in turn, causes the release of photons. Multiplied by all the atoms in the Sun\u2019s core this generates the <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xTIeWeXWfzU?rel=0\"><\/iframe> radiation produced by the Sun and all the other stars in the universe. But in reality, he would be wrong (or at least not totally right). If you do the math you\u2019ll find that there just isn\u2019t enough force in the core of a star to cause nuclear fusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">However, if you ask a particle physicist that same question, she will tell you that something called quantum tunneling is required for fusion. The Pauli Exclusion Principle tells us, in part, that no two particles can occupy the same space\u2014the electron cloud will resist any such possibility. But this can be overcome by the more powerful (but extremely rare) action of quantum tunneling. It\u2019s extremely rare, but considering all the material and dynamics at the core of the Sun it happens often enough to cause the Sun to shine providing all the energy we encounter on Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">At the root of quantum tunneling is the fact that an individual particle can (and does) exist in more than one place at a time. You\u2019re tempted to say \u2018oh well, things are really strange in the sub-microscopic\u2019 world but that doesn\u2019t affect me at all. But in our reality we have to keep in mind that everything is made from these particles\u2014including us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-photo-strip-11-72.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-photo-strip-11-72-300x115.jpg\" alt=\"Prospect park photo strip 11 72\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-3778\" height=\"169\" width=\"382\" \/><\/a>Leah. <\/strong><em>Every moment captured on film is over as soon as the shutter clicks, recording the ephemeral. Yet, in reality, there is always a visual cacophony of experience. The concept of quantum tunneling doesn\u2019t surprise me. We are always living in many realities at once. Multiple exposures express the way we experience the world more accurately. <br \/><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Wave or Particle<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u201cI insist on the view that \u2018all is waves.\u2019\u201d <\/em>Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Dan. <\/strong>One of the most outrageous concepts to be proposed in science (or in any other field for that matter) is Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s explanation of the reality of a particle as it moves through space. It really started with Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and a host of other scientists at the beginning of the 1900\u2019s. Their experiments consistently showed that a particle behaved differently when it was observed by a human than when it wasn\u2019t (see the Two Slit Experiment). Albert Einstein (and others) hated this result and the statement it seemed to be making about reality (\u201cGod does not play dice with the universe.\u201d). But in spite of an onslaught of attacks, experiment after experiment continues to confirm a weird fact\u2014as matter moves through space (unobserved) it exists as a wave occupying every possible position, and possessing every possible attribute. However, when observed, this \u201cwave\u201d collapses in a single place and with a single set of attributes.<em><br \/><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-double-tree-3sm-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-double-tree-3sm-copy-300x215.jpg\" alt=\"Prospect park double tree 3sm copy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3777\" height=\"215\" width=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-double-tree-3sm-copy-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-double-tree-3sm-copy-150x107.jpg 150w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-double-tree-3sm-copy.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-photo-strip-11-72.jpg\"><\/a>Leah. <\/strong><em>As un-intuitive as wave\/particle duality is, it provides, perhaps, the best metaphor for explaining my approach to photography. The wave of possibilities is analogous to what there is to experience. The \u201cobservation\u201d is like the click of a shutter that forces the scene to take just one, limited, ephemeral form. Multiple exposure allows me to present a broader range of experience which is actually more accurate of the reality.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Time<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u201cMy ideas about time all developed from the realization that if nothing were to change we could not say that time passes.\u201d <\/em>Julian Barbour<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Dan. <\/strong>Some scientists feel that what we perceive as time is just change masquerading as our fourth dimension. There\u2019s probably no concept in physics more counter-intuitive than the idea that time doesn\u2019t exist. After all, you started reading this article at one <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XsCEPgTboTA?rel=0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n point, but now you\u2019re reading these words. Doesn\u2019t the distance between those two events require a passage of time? Well, within the limited scope of our intuition, time must exist. But we continue to find, time after time, that our innate intuition is far too limited to comprehend reality. And it looks like our perception of time will be another casualty of that limitation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">So, you ask, if time doesn\u2019t exist, at least not as we perceive it, how can we explain the phenomena we experience? Let\u2019s start with our good friend Albert Einstein who said <em>\u201cpeople like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between the past, the present and the future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.\u201d <\/em>For him, the classical understanding of time began to fall apart with his insight on relativity. In that breakthrough theory, time is just another dimension like up\/down; backward\/forward; and, left\/right. And it\u2019s not constant\u2014the speed of time\u2019s passage that affects us depends on the impact of motion and gravity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Then what is it that occurs making us think that time is passing? According to particle physicist, Julian Barbour, it\u2019s change. <em>\u201cIt is utterly beyond our power to measure the changes of things by time. Quite the contrary, time is an abstraction, at which we arrive by means of the changes of things.\u201d<\/em> Some of the most successful equations in physics are completely devoid of a time component.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-circle-trees-1-.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-circle-trees-1--300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Autosave-File vom d-lab2\/3 der AgfaPhoto GmbH\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3779\" height=\"200\" width=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-circle-trees-1--300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-circle-trees-1--150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Prospect-park-circle-trees-1-.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Leah.<\/strong> <em>Time is layered and not frozen into one single moment. Photography is directly connected to time as the camera shoots in fractions of a second. Time is always slipping and fracturing from the present, past and future. We are often living in all these levels at once. But when we\u2019re not, we experience flow\u2014or an absence of time. Multiple exposures are close to the experience of \u201cflow.\u201d When I look at a moment in time I \u201cfeel\u201d more than can be recorded with a simple click of the shutter. Standard techniques and even digital capabilities consistently disappoint me. The image never fully reflects what I \u201csaw\u201d or felt. I use multiple exposures on film to record a more accurate picture of how we can recall time transpiring. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Consciousness<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Johnjoe McFadden believes that consciousness is an electromagnetic field which escapes (or enters) the body through the synaptic gaps between neurons: \u201cThe theory solves many previously intractable problems of consciousness and could have profound implications for our concepts of mind, free will, spirituality, the design of artificial intelligence, and even life and death,\u201d he said.\u00a0 <br \/>Johnjoe McFadden, <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">School if Biomedical and Life Sciences, <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>University of Surrey (UK)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u01qUDe21zI?rel=0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n Dan. <\/strong>A neurosurgeon once compared the human brain to the bridge on the Starship Enterprise. He could map a brain, identifying all the control systems. He was amazed at how effective this mapping process could be\u2014it explained almost everything. But he was troubled by one fact&#8212;he could never find Captain Kirk. He couldn\u2019t locate the force that activated the controls. The thing that pushes the buttons. The real seat of consciousness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Professor McFadden\u2019s idea that consciousness is really an electromagnetic field is striking. If true, that would shed new light on a lot of mysteries. In fact, we know that light itself is an electromagnetic (EM) phenomenon. Think about a current theme in sci-fi relating to near death experience: <em>\u201cgo to the light,\u201d<\/em> [Ghost Whisperer] or <em>\u201cstay away from the light.\u201d<\/em> [Poltergeist] Or religious references <em>\u201cI am the light\u2026\u201d<\/em> Carl Jung would also be pleased. An EM field would go a long way in explaining his collective unconscious. <em>\u201cMy thesis then, is as follows: in addition to our immediate consciousness, there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature\u2026\u201d <\/em>[<em>Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, <\/em>Carl Jung]. That could be our personal EM interacting with a broader \u2018collective,\u2019 or even a universal EM field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The idea that consciousness might be an electromagnetic field certainly addresses a lot of issues. It might also help explain savants, psychic phenomenon like telepathy, meditation, ghosts, auras, and psychokinesis\u2014to the extent any of those are real. Am I my body\u2014or is my body just something I inhabit? If I\u2019m more than my body\u2014then what, and where am I? In a sense an artist like Leah Oates deals with questions like this. The apparent abstraction of images created with multiple exposure could be a subconscious attempt to portray something our \u201crational,\u201d intuitive mind just can\u2019t grasp\u2014much less put into words.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/large-rene-16.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/large-rene-16.jpg\" alt=\"large rene 16\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-3774\" height=\"522\" width=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/large-rene-16.jpg 700w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/large-rene-16-150x112.jpg 150w, https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/large-rene-16-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Leah. <\/strong><em>Let\u2019s face facts\u2014above all else photography is a process dealing with light. <\/p>\n<p>So, if consciousness is somehow tied-into this electromagnetic force, then photography is clearly recording consciousness at one level\u2014or many. The idea of consciousness spilling out of an individual\u2019s brain and mixing into a wider context or environment is a compelling idea. Can my multiple exposure technique help to unveil a better understanding of consciousness? I\u2019m not sure. But I do know that at the heart of this art are feelings that cannot be expressed in words\u2014or even concepts we currently embrace.<\/p>\n<p><strong><\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u201cThe world thus appears to be a complicated tissue of events in which connections of different kinds alternate, overlap or combine and thereby determine the texture of the whole. All phenomenon are processes, connections, all is in flux, and at moments this flux is visible.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>Peter Mathessen<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><em><strong><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" style=\"margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px; border: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fcAi7kP6Syc?rel=0\"><\/iframe> <\/strong><\/em><strong>Dan. <\/strong>There\u2019s a well-worn clich\u00e9 dealing with progress\u2014\u201cthinking outside the box.\u201d It may be overused as a metaphor, but the action precedes every major breakthrough in science and technology. Copernicus; Galileo; Newton; Einstein; Bohr and others broke the barriers of the state-of-the-art thinking of their times. And the metaphor applies to art as well\u2014Da Vinci; Michelangelo; Monet; Picasso; Adams; Avedon and others broke visual barriers and rewrote the definition of art and the way it communicates. I find it ironic that, so often science and art cross paths intersecting at \u2018philosophy.\u2019 They both dig deep into the essence of reality searching for meaning that escapes prevailing intuition. I challenge the reader to look more deeply and ponderously into the art of Leah Oates. The message that emerges may just be more than aesthetic (and it certainly is that)\u2014it may be a fresh glimpse into the true nature of reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3710\">Leah Oates Visual Dialog<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3710\">Transitory Space<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/?page_id=1134\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>Return to Table of Contents<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Return to Table of Contents Dan Duda and Leah Oates collaborated on the creation of this essay. Leah Oates is a photographer working out of New York City and Dan Duda is a scientific writer living in Lititz, Pennsylvania (USA).\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/?page_id=3819\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88893,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3819","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2KsSU-ZB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/88893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3819"}],"version-history":[{"count":61,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4267,"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3819\/revisions\/4267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vjic.org\/vjic2\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}