Five Minutes by Chipka
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Five minutes can be a long time, or a short time; it all depends on what you see, what you watch, what decisions shape your watching, your seeing. In five minutes, as you walk with your back to the east and to the Great Tree, the great inland sea may exhale a chill from its depths. The Northerly Wind may slither from distant mountain peaks…where snow lives, where glaciers flow. They are the world’s slowest rivers, and like any river, they shape the world around them. They carve solid land, they write their names in stone. From high in the air, or even within the uppermost branches of the Great Tree to the east, you may read the calligraphy of powerful rivers.
Five minutes can be a long time, or a short time; it all depends on what you see, what you watch…where you focus. In taking westward steps along Y-Street, whispers of fog move quietly from the east, from beyond the Great Tree: from the heart of the inland sea. The sun, always a daytime presence is simply an indistinct source of light: a silvery glow, swimming through the highest layers of atmospheric condensation. Five minutes can be a long time, or a short time, or no measure of time at all. The fog may do anything, or nothing at all, but in walking along the westerly stretch of Y-Street, the temperaments of fog are not a concern.
*
As you might be able to guess, this is a composite of two photographs: one of a random pedestrian on Chicago Avenue and one of a tree at twilight, elsewhere. I was bored with the sky as seen in the original version of this photo, and I was equally bored with the mundane, unexciting traffic obscuring the base of an impressive, leafless tree. I had two decent photos, only slightly marred, and in combining them, layering wafts of fog over and between them, I coaxed something else into existence. I rather like it.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you are all having a great week.

Comments (19)
you did an outstanding job on the image and the thought-provoking commentary about 5 minutes - there is another aspect that you should consider, when someone says I'll be ready in 5 minutes..... think about that....
Outstanding captures my friend. God Bless.
I think that tree looks like it belongs there...and I like the fact that the pedestrian has seen it so often he just walks along without looking at it :D
Yep...that would be one gigantic tree...lol. Another very interesting narrative.:)
Ah, those last five minutes before the bell rings--now THOSE are long minutes!! Nice work here, both fotos and words!
My first thought when I saw this picture was: "Oh my God, it's The Day of the Triffids! We're all doomed. Then I calmed down and thought what a cool, and nicely seamless photo collage this is. All while still thinking: "Oh my God, it's The Day of the Triffids! We're all going to die!" I think perhaps I need to change my meds. Love this.
You know how you see certain things and miss other things, depending upon where your brain happens to be playing? I saw this shot of Chicago, and immediately started looking at the buildings, trying to figure out where you took this shot. Then I read your narrative and was quite sure I'd missed something. Tree? WTF tree is he talking about? I scrolled back up and looked at the bottom half of the picture (where I would expect trees to be) and then kept going. Suddenly ... holy crap! Now how on earth did I miss that gigantic tree the first time I looked at this? I mean, seriously. That would be a HUGE clue as to where you were in a certain place! (Turn your right palm to face you. See where the top of your thumb meets your hand?) Okay. Now that I've pulled my head out and actually seen what you did ... I love it! What a creative, innovative, marvellous idea! You pulled it off perfectly. The result is outstanding!
That's one huge tree mate!
I love those giant trees used to shade tall buildings; probably a GM tree!
This got my mind spining for a couple of seconds, somethings wrong here, but what. I realised after reading your narative. Very clever.
EXTREMELY clever!
I like it; there SHOULD be a tree there!
Always a delight to see your shots and the thoughts you share Chip.
excellent
Exactly the same happened to me, as with Tara. DIdnt even notised the HUGE trees in the background ad i was to thrilled by the buildings :-D GEEESS!! I like this image alot :)
amazing work!
Wonderful work combining the two photos. Like auntietk I almost missed the giant tree!
love the tilt that certainly adds dinamics to the image... great capture, Chip! as always, your story complements a real lot!
Impressive urban scenery. Is it Chicago?