Andy Ilachinski

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About me

Gender Male
Industry Science
Occupation Physicist / Photographer
Location Virginia, United States
Introduction I am, by training and profession, a physicist, specializing in the modeling of complex adaptive systems (with a Ph.D. in theoretical physics). However, both by temperament and inner muse, I am a photographer, and have been one for far longer than my Ph.D. gives me any right to claim an ownership by physics. Photography became a life-long pursuit for me the instant my parents gave me a Polaroid instamatic camera for my 10th birthday. I have been studying the mysterious relationship between inner experiences and outer realities ever since. My creative process is very simple. I take pictures of what calms my soul. There may be other, more descriptive or poetic words that may be used to define the “pattern” that connects my images, but the simplest meta-pattern is this: I take snapshots of moments in time and space in which a peace washes gently over me, and during which I sense a deep interconnectedness between my soul and the world. Not Cartier-Bresson’s “Decisive Moment,” but rather a "Sudden Stillness." My favorite quote: "That which you are seeking is doing the seeking." (St. Francis of Assissi)
Interests Photography, Art (especially abstract), Physics, Zen, Tao, Absurdist Humor, Buddhism, Mysticism, Philosophy, Spirituality, Complex adaptive systems, Agent-based modeling, Laughing at and musing upon all of Life's profound absurdities, Monty Python
Favorite Movies The Big Lebowski, Inception, Ostrov, Matrix, Stalker, Solaris, 2001, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Pi, Fearless, Blade Runner, A Fish Called Wanda, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Andromeda Strain, Godfather Trilogy, Waking Life, Back to the Future Trilogy, Nemo, What's Up Doc?, Schindler's List, Hero, Kung-Fu Panda, Dark Knight
Favorite Music Beethoven, Bach, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Enya, Arvo Part, Dominic Miller, Sting, Orthodox/Gregorian Chants, Deuter, Loreena McKennitt, Eric Clapton, Simon and Garfunkel, Sounds of Nature (Thunderstorms)
Favorite Books Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe, Ubik, Valis, Library of Babel (Borges), Solaris, Nature of Order (Christopher Alexander), Brothers Karamazov, The Trial, The Castle, Godel-Escher-Bach (Douglas Hofstadter), Roadside Picnic, Subtle is the Lord, Tao (Alan Watts), Zen Flesh Zen Bones, The Zen of Creativity, The Last Temptation of Christ, Janus (Koestler)