Weekly Photo Challenge: Arranged

The photo challenge this week is to express what the word arranged means in photographic terms.

In literal terms, I thought of things like: arranged weddings, making arrangements for something good or sad…!  But, in photographic terms, the arrangement of the elements in the photo is what photography is all about, really. Which means, the possibilities are endless….

So, I’m focusing on nature.

Nature’s “natural” order of things is either random or arranged, depending on your philosophy or religion.  The arrangement of a zebra’s stripes; the shades of colors in flower petals; or patterns on butterfly wings, all provide examples of an arranged or a random order.   Inherent in the beauty of nature is the diversity in its visual arrangement.

Nature knows that our differences are our strengths; the arrangement of our freckles and frowns; our teeth and toes, our color and our compassion holds our inner and outer beauty.

I guess if everyone appreciated the diversity of human beings as much as they did the beauty of nature, the world would be a much nicer place.

Here are three butterflies, of the same variety, displaying how nature arranges its appreciation of diversity.

Photo by Andrea O’Connell, 2012