My curiosity cabinet ~ Elizabeth Smith

Things from my yard

The natural things I see below my feet - these small items tell a story of place and life.

The story of place is about habitat: rocks and soil and water and climate. Tropical heat and the harsh bite of salt, the legacy of marine sediment and the alchemy of fresh water meeting ocean. This is the history of Florida.

Things from an estuary

The story of life reflects a connection to the other life forms that share this space, and adaptations to place. Flower > berry> bird> seedling> plant> flower completes a cycle of life.  How this leaf curls and why this leaf becomes needle-like, how an oyster clasps an underwater root, how these seeds are thrown from a pod, but those seeds fly on the wind.



Things from Iowa

 I invite you to share a journey of exploration of the simple wonders all around us through the bits and pieces that I collect in my images, my version of the wunderkammer (wonder-room) or cabinet of curiosities.  Click here to see more of these collections on my Flickr photostream.

The "cabinet of curiosities" concept started in Renaissance Europe, mainly by aristocrats with a bent for collecting, who accumulated curious and strange objects (some of which were fictional!), and housed them in a special room to show to friends and colleagues.

Wikipedia has a comprehensive entry on the history of these collections and their evolution into museums, as well as a summary of how virtual wunderkammern - such as this blog - are being created and shared.

~ Elizabeth Smith, Naples, Florida, USA