Elliot Porter is a writer and photographer. He found new ways to present the natural world. When I looked at his pictures, I felt like I was standing right next to him as he was taking the picture. “Path in the Woods,” reminded me of camping with my family when I was a young girl. My mother would take us for long walks in the woods. I remember how quiet everything was and thinking we were the first ones to ever be on the path. When I saw “Path in the Woods,” the path appeared untouched by human just like the paths on our camping outings so long ago. When I looked through Elliot Porter images with the corresponding passages by Thoreau I am drawn to many images. The images themselves stand out to me; Thoreau words help me put in perspective
…show more content…
Thoreau’s writings were hard for me to always understand. Porter photographs allowed me to break apart Thoreau’s words and give them understanding that might not have been there just by reading the words. Before taking this class, I would have thought that one needed to see nature in order to experience the beauty of nature. The writers we read last week changed this opinion. The way they wrote I could close my eyes and imagine being in the space they were describing. At the same time, writings cannot replace being in nature for example, waking to the sound of birds singing or the smell right after it rains. Thoreau reminds us of this when he wrote; “We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of previous state of existence,” (Porter, 32). Watching the film Into the Wild was different from readings. While reading, I can use my imagination to view what the writers are writing about. Linda Hogan wrote about the finding a bird nest while taking her morning walk (American Earth, 814). I can easily place myself her place and imagine looking down on the nest picking it up and seeing the piece of fabric and her daughter hair woven in the nest. If this same scene had been in a movie, it would have lost its impact for me because I would not have been able to set up my own imagination. Movies can take imagination away from
Thoreau’s writings were hard for me to always understand. Porter photographs allowed me to break apart Thoreau’s words and give them understanding that might not have been there just by reading the words. Before taking this class, I would have thought that one needed to see nature in order to experience the beauty of nature. The writers we read last week changed this opinion. The way they wrote I could close my eyes and imagine being in the space they were describing. At the same time, writings cannot replace being in nature for example, waking to the sound of birds singing or the smell right after it rains. Thoreau reminds us of this when he wrote; “We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of previous state of existence,” (Porter, 32). Watching the film Into the Wild was different from readings. While reading, I can use my imagination to view what the writers are writing about. Linda Hogan wrote about the finding a bird nest while taking her morning walk (American Earth, 814). I can easily place myself her place and imagine looking down on the nest picking it up and seeing the piece of fabric and her daughter hair woven in the nest. If this same scene had been in a movie, it would have lost its impact for me because I would not have been able to set up my own imagination. Movies can take imagination away from