P14_318

Your Majesty
Flower of the Victoria amazonica (also known as the giant water lily). The white, slightly pinkish flower appears this way on the first day, but it gradually turns more red as time passes. In 1991, at the time of the photo, I was traveling alone by rivers and lakes for days in a small regional boat that my sponsor Ritta Bernardino had lent me.
In the late afternoon, I anchored the boat in the Janauarí lake, which looked more like a field of Victoria lilies. I anchored it by the edge of that field, next to a flower bud, with the strong desire that it would bloom in the morning. It was not that there was a lack of flowers in the area, but all of them were red. I wanted the white flower on the first day of flowering, and early in the morning, it presented itself in all its majesty. Here is Your Majesty! Victoria amazonica, a truly lovely queen. I bow with reverence, Your Highness! with all the respect and reverence you deserve.
I am not referring here to the concept of royalty that humanity has created. With a few rare exceptions like the beloved queen of Hawaii Liliuokalani, the human concept of royalty is tied to submission and protocol. This is tiresome, artificial, and boring.
In contrast, the ceremony of the Victoria amazonica faithfully follows the instructions of an extremely poetic spiral book, written over millions of years, which fascinates and enchants. The electromagnetic field of that flower keeps all the subatomic particles in that particular, individualized form, similar but never the same as another flower of that people. The memory of that plant people is all written, in minute detail, in the unimaginable perfection of its DNA. From that source, it receives the necessary information to unfold and the great mission of continuing its impulse to exist. I am already convinced that there is no solid matter, only energy. I also know how difficult it is to overcome the prejudices of the physical world and dive into this universe of light that surrounds me, to fly in it without the slightest doubt. In that electromagnetic field, the elemental forces waltz in eternal rotational movement. In that energetic broth, electricity provides the minute information of the miracle’s realization. Magnetism organizes the position and function of each element, what it repels and what it attracts.
The harmonious dance that presented itself to my eyes that morning germinated in the framing mirror of my camera in a state of consciousness that words cannot reach.

P14_318 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Micro Nikkor lens 60mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Original file size: 5279px x 3493px
Location Taken: Lago Janauari (Manaus – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1991
Collection: Flowers – Persons shown: -nobody
Keywords:
vitória-régia, Victoria amazonica, water-lili, aquatic plants, FLORA, plantas, plants, plantas aquáticas, lago do Janauari, Janauari lake, lagos, lakes, águas, waterscapes, Manaus, Manaos, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America
EN1 Your Majesty P14_318
PT1 Vossa Majestade P14_318
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos

P04_079

The glory of Victoria amazonica
The steel and glass of the Crystal Palace, at the Great Exhibition of London in 1851, marked the “triumph of industrialization over the natural world”, as was believed at the time. The construction of the Palace was made possible by the observation of the incredible structure of a plant: the Victoria amazonica. Joseph Paxton, the head gardener of the Duke of Devonshire, caught the amazed attention of London and Europe. Firstly, he achieved what many had failed to do, not only reproducing the royal water lily but also making it bloom. Secondly, by the image of his daughter standing on a leaf of that exotic plant. And thirdly, two years later the same gardener would be the designer of the Crystal Palace, which would be built in just eight months and which he himself mentioned as a clear inspiration from the leaf structure of the Victoria Amazonica.

P04_079 – Leonide Principe
Camera Nikon F5 with Nikkor lens 80-200mm f2.8 – Diapositive Film Fujichrome Velvia 50 – Scanner: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED
Original digital capture of a real life scene
Original file size: 5397px x 3643px
Location Taken: Lago Janauari (Manaus – Amazonas Brazil)
Date Taken: 1997
Collection: Flowers – Persons shown: none
Keywords:
vitória-régia, Victoria amazonica, water-lili, aquatic plants, FLORA, plantas, plants, plantas aquáticas, lago do Janauari, Janauari lake, lagos, lakes, águas, waterscapes, Manaus, Manaos, Amazonas, Amazônia, Amazon, Amazonian, Brazil, Brasil, Brazilian, América do Sul, South America
EN2 The glory of Victoria amazonica P04_079
PT2 A gloria da Vitória régia P04_079
© – Leonide Principe, all right reserved
https://leonideprincipe.photos