It is the purpose of this website to create a platform for an ongoing exploration of the principles and processes that constitute the natural world. This exploration is being conducted through composed and improvised music on one hand and photography on the other.
Music: First and foremost, I am a composing and improvising musician. The study of nature provides the foundation upon which I base my endeavours as a musician. The tangible world is made up of complex systems of vibratory forces whose structures may be expressed through number and numerical principle. It is in music that we find an abstract, precise and eloquent language that presents vibration directly as sound and enables us to communicate both the detail and the essence of natural law, principle and process. The disciplined and creative use of sound, rhythm and the laws that govern them represents a language that functions as a natural extension of the sciences and allows us, if applied successfully, to explore and reveal nature's hidden principles and intentions.
Photography: The most central and rewarding approach to developing an understanding of the natural world is through observation. Photography is an effective medium through which to do this in a focused and enjoyable way. Nature reveals its workings to us partly through the structures of which it makes use. Focused observation of these structures can lead to genuine understanding of the principles that nature favours in its creations. Photography records, magnifies and illuminates aspects of nature that are too small, transient or abstract to be noted by the naked eye. A well-crafted image purveys the idea of a principle inherent in the natural world in a more precise and concise manner than any intellectual treatise. It can lead to lucid understanding where mere intellectual stimulation often leads to little more than accumulation of data. The use of pixel processing software for digital images further gives us the means to depict physical and metaphysical processes that are impossible to photograph using traditional means. This approach requires the photographer to use his/her experience, intuition and knowledge of natural law to represent symbolically, that which cannot be depicted through traditional photography. This is a creative process that has been practiced by mankind since its earliest days. The ancient Egyptians for instance were masters of the symbolic representation of natural law, process and principle. Increased communication with, and observation of, the natural world was my initial motivation to practice photography. This soon extended itself to photographing people. Since then, I have developed a great love for portraiture and figurative photography. As many seem to prefer these sort of images, the majority of images posted on this site fall into these categories.
It is hoped that likeminded individuals will listen to and view some of this work. Those who would like to comment, bring forward suggestions or simply initiate dialogue are encouraged to do so. >> nagib.eldesouky (AT) gmail (DOT) com