October 30, 2022 • 53

LAPC #223: Flights of Fancy

This week, our host, John Steiner, asks us to visualize flights of fancy. Forgive me, John, but your creative inspiration took me on a flight of fancy of my own! At first, I started thinking of flights in planes and then my mind swerved towards unusual kinds of flights…

For me, this type of flying conjures up visions of the character Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days.

Although I’ve never flown in a hot air balloon, I’m fascinated by them. I captured this lone balloonist gliding above Florence a week or so ago.

High above the city of Zermatt, this lone paraglider floated among the clouds and the mountains one foggy morning several weeks ago. I watched–half fascinated and half astonished that anyone would fly on such an overcast morning.

This rollercoaster at Six Flags in California would be a flight of fancy for some coaster enthusiasts (my son included), but not for me, thank you very much!

Now this flight of fancy I can totally enjoy and have enjoyed since I was little. I love how artists explore their imagination through creative mediums, such as music, painting, sculpture, photography, fiction…

At an exhibition at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria, I captured this image drawn by the Dutch artist M.C. Escher who pictured himself reflected in a glass globe. The man in the globe is in fact Escher, who seems to be peering into one world while living in another.

I love this quote of Escher’s: “Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling?”
― M.C. Escher

I’ve saved my two favorite flights of fancy for the end of my post–reading and writing. They have taken me to places near and far–and have generously given me sanctuary and sustenance during difficult times.

We hope you join us this week and explore Flights of Fancy. I can’t wait to see what flights of fancy our wonderful creative community comes up with! Be sure to visit John’s site to see his wonderful flights of fancy and be sure to include a link to his post as well as the Lens-Artists tag. If you’re new to LAPC, here’s a link that explains how to join.

Last week, you shared glorious photos of mountains from around the world for Amy’s The Mountains are Calling challenge. What a true visual delight for all of us. Next week, it’s Sofia turn to host challenge #224. She’s focusing on Exposure, so be sure to visit her beautiful site next Saturday at noon to get all the details.

Until then, have a week filled with good health, inspiration, and a lot of photo opportunities.

Categories: LENS-ARTISTS, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Photography

Tagged as: , , ,

53 replies »

    • I’m not surprised that the real flights are your favorites. 😀😀😀. I guess roller coasters aren’t! Escher is a favorite of mine, too. The exhibit was wonderful. The actually recreated some of his optical illusions. Amazing. I can’t wait to see what other flights people come up with.

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  3. I thoroughly enjoyed your response to John’s challenge. I don’t like roller coasters either. Reading and writing are safe bets. But I do like various forms of flight. I do want to ride in a hot air balloon. I’ve been a passenger in a small 2-seater plane and I stupidly passed up a chance to ride tandem with a hang glider I was interviewing for a magazine. Oh if we could do things over again!

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    • Hi, Anne. Thanks! I’m delighted you enjoyed this one. Honestly, I love flying, too. But I’m more cautious when it comes to hot air balloons, roller coasters, etc. I was able to fly once in a 2-seater when I was a teenager and the pilot did some acrobatics like loops and rolls. I loved it back then. I think I’d still love it now…..I think! Too bad you didn’t ride in tandem with a hang glider. So there’s a bit of an adventurer in you! I love that.

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  5. Like everyone else Patti, I loved the Esher piece which I’d not seen before so thank you for that! Also loved the rest of your post – each with its own message and all perfect for John’s theme. We’ve done a hot air balloon and I also did a parachute pulled by a speedboat over the ocean. Both were fabulous but definitely “one-and-done”!!! Loved roller coasters as a kid but those days are behind me too LOL. Finally, I loved your ending image and message. On the surface it seems so simple and yet it has as much depth and complexity and is so on point for the challenge. Terrific response!

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    • You really know how to give me a smile the first thing in the morning! Thanks, Tina. You are adventurous, for sure. I see the parachute riders over the ocean and I think I’d try that. But bungee jumping…definitely not! Thanks for your thoughts on the final message too. Books and writing have been a refuge at times, haven’t they? I’m so appreciative of that. Take care and have a good week.

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  7. I love the work of Escher you brought us. It warrants study, doesn’t it?

    The roller coaster is definitely a no thanks for me, but I loved all your flight choices.

    I am with you in reading and writing. They really are a respite, or an adventure depending on the place you are in.

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    • Escher is marvelous, isn’t he? He had a unique perspective, which I love. Are you reading something now that takes you “away” to another place or time? Thanks for your thoughts, as always, Donna.

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      • Yes. I just finished Desert Solitude, by Edward Abbey. The book was written from the time he was a park ranger, in the late 50’s. He lived in a trailer near Balanced Rock ( if you have been there). At the time there were no paved roads and a few hundred visitors a week. What was interesting was the predictions he made, not knowing what “today” looks like.

        His words are so detailed you can feel yourself in the raw, untouched landscape from that time.

        An interesting read for sure.

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      • Sounds wonderful, Donna. Did you ever read Travels with Charlie by Steinbeck? Interesting. His impressions of the wilderness and America at that time (also the 50’s, I believe) are fascinating.

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  10. A wonderful response to the challenge, from the concrete to the metaphorical. Balloons over Florence is new to me. The paragliding in the alps was new when I lived in the vicinity, and it is one of my lasting regrets that I didn’t do it then. Your parting shot is especially appealing.

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  15. I totally agree about that rollercoaster – definitely not for me! But I do love hot air ballooning and that shot of the balloon over Florence is amazing! If ever you get the chance to do it, that’s one flight of fancy I recommend indulging in 😀

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  19. A great take on, Patti! Great photography – that paraglider was a stunning shot. I would love to fly air balloon too, and I have always loved roller coasters…but nowadays I cannot do it. My daughter loves everything in this field, but my son wouldn’t go near things like that…We are all different.
    I too love the works of Escher, and reading and writing is of course the best means of flight!

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