An Einstein Moment

Excellence Equals Mechanics Times Creativity And Content

Just started reading a book attempting to relate mathematics and philosophy in a way that could be interpreted as trying to explain the physics of creativity.

I have to admit I didn’t finish it. It was too heavy on the math and was taking too long to get to the philosophy. I love Euclid but he can be so insufferably rigid sometimes. And this was one of those times.

I prefer Newton over Leibniz to help me digest the active strategies of daily life and the vagaries of unexpected variables that wreak havoc on my plans.

My preferred mathematician is Einstein. His work helps explain the beginning, our movement through time and space, and a projected finality that will greet us all.

As a photographer, I’ve employed simple Euclidian geometry to understand the inverse square rule of lighting and to have a grasp of how circles of confusion are formed and how they affect bokeh. The critical thinking of solving a math problem using established rules simplifies a multitude of processes every day.

Then, I start to make a photo, and Euclid, Newton, and Leibniz are thrown out of the closed loop. At this point in creativity, they don’t count. Not one bit.

But Einstein does. E=mc2 becomes my mantra. Not Einstein’s "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared." I switch it around a bit to match my needs.

E - Excellence

An absolute that gets as close to perfect as possible. This is the solution to the struggle to produce. Make photos as excellent as possible.

M- Mechanics

These are the actions required to make the physical things necessary for photography to work. From the slow twitch muscles needed for fine-tuning focus to the fast twitch muscles required to change directions or avoid obstacles in your path.

c2 - Creativity and Content

This is the ephemeral moment when the view of a creative photographer’s view of the subject is changed and intensified by the recognition that the resulting photo will transcend the ordinary, step past the physical, and express an understanding of the short story to be told. Creativity and content build on each other, fusing into a new element not previously experienced by subject or photographer.

I do math every day using critical thinking techniques that began with Aristotle, continued with Pythagoras and Euclid and Newton and Leibniz, and for me ends with Einstein.

His theory E=mc2 translates to the philosophy of making good photos. Excellence always follows with an understanding of the tools required and allowing creativity and content to interact in an unexpected way to build a better story.

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