“The universe is built on a plan the profound symmetry of which is somehow present in the inner structure of our intellect”, Paul Valery
![Shillitoe Clan | Sony RX1 | www.richard.walls.com](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/434f5c_5e011044723f49f3b2e96757ec5e8371~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_653,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/434f5c_5e011044723f49f3b2e96757ec5e8371~mv2.jpg)
Shillitoe Clan | Sony RX1 | http://www.richard.walls.com
To celebrate Polly’s dad’s 89th birthday we headed to the Yorkshire Dales to visit one of the familiar regular haunts, How Stean Gorge (http://www.howstean.co.uk). After a discussion over dinner about family likenesses the clam members spookily lined up almost symmetrically for the family portrait!
![Scar House Reservoir | Sigma Merrill DP3 | www.richardjwalls.com](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/434f5c_2d9fad360f5247af825ef8c659d5aa11~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_653,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/434f5c_2d9fad360f5247af825ef8c659d5aa11~mv2.jpg)
Scar House Reservoir | Sigma Merrill DP3 | http://www.richardjwalls.com
A hour later, at Scar House Reservoir, the stillness of the water created an almost perfect horizontal reflective symmetry …
![Scar House Reservoir | Sigma Merrill DP3 | www.richardjwalls.com](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/434f5c_3bc9fa6374124853a77b42966faa677d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1470,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/434f5c_3bc9fa6374124853a77b42966faa677d~mv2.jpg)
Scar House Reservoir | Sigma Merrill DP3 | http://www.richardjwalls.com
… and framing the reservoir through the “portlets” in the dam created a vertical symmetry …
![Scar House Reservoir | Sigma Merrill DP3 | www.richardjwalls.com](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/434f5c_7e4d65583766442ca220fc83978bf0c2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_419,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/434f5c_7e4d65583766442ca220fc83978bf0c2~mv2.jpg)
Scar House Reservoir | Sigma Merrill DP3 | http://www.richardjwalls.com
… and as the sun began to set, and dusk settled in, the reflections and hills created a balanced symmetrical composition.
Did the symmetrical Shillitoe group portrait subliminally influence the later shots, or is it that we’re all bound into the universe’s profound symmetrical plan … and any sense of freewill is simply an illusion?
I’ll let the philosophers take a stab at that!
Family portrait shot with the Sony RX1. All other shots taken with the Sigma Merrill DP3, using a tripod at ISO 100, the final shot is a stitched composition of 4 images.
Comments