Tag: Photography

Solitude Found

However I feel and wherever I am, I try to find solitude. It’s a quiet that renews me because I can be myself.  Solitude encourages me not only to reflect, but to jettison the ill-feelings of comparisons and expectations.  The Rolling Stones, rock classic, Satisfaction, is so very telling:

“…When I’m watchin’ my TV and a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
But, he can’t be a man ’cause he doesn’t smoke
The same cigarettes as me…”

I’m not equating isolation with solitude, as the former suggests being devoid of sensory inputs.  No, this is about a mindfulness that keeps at bay the disquiet of our modern life.  Turn off the radio, the TV, the podcast, et al. Though it may be easier–if all too obvious–to find solitude when completely alone, that is unnecessary.  Solitude can manifest itself anywhere. Don’t you find solitude at a social event [even at work] when you can momentarily remove yourself to a space that doesn’t invade your thinking and feeling?  Step away, even for a moment, to find some quiet, some calm, some level of respite.

We’ve yielded to wanting impressions that don’t add genuine value to our sense of self: number of likes, tweets, comments, “friends”, postings and so forth.  Allow yourself to be your own best company.

Splashes of Light

Those who live close to the 66th circle of latitude have it tough. This is  the area of earth known as the Arctic Circle. Brutally low temperatures notwithstanding, the brevity of available daylight 6-7 months of the year would be the metaphorical stake-in-the-chest for me.

While light is essential to vision, perception, photosynthesis and so forth, on any given day light can also trigger a variety of feelings.

You can argue that what one sees in a photograph is more variants of shade and hue than actual light. Like 2 sides of a coin, you can defend one POV over another, but there’s no denying the fascination some of us have for how light can enlighten…

Strength Revealed: The End

The following completes the story I started on May 25, Strength Revealed.

One reinforced cement section delivered to site…

I don’t know the actual weight, but it required 2 cranes to cradle this section into position…

Steel cables, hook, pulleys, etc.

One crane just barely…barely…cleared the overhang of the first parking deck…

 

Seeking Selectivity

There’s an ageless argument in photography involving 2 camps, one staunchly defending B&W as “more real” than color images, and of course vice-versa.  Who’s right? Or wrong?

My take on this may seem like a cop-out, but choosing one over the other because it’s “more real” doesn’t resonate with me. The interpretation of any photograph is highly personal, so regardless of an image presented in B&W or color–or combinations of both–what you feel makes the image real.

Some days, I see and feel things that tell me to shoot B&W. Similarly, it goes the other direction where my sensitivities lean to color, even one particular color.

Yet these images can confound the entire argument because of my resolute commitment to personally see or find things that prompts a connection. Are these photographs less real because of my choice in isolating or selecting an object, shape, color or theme?

Same Time Zone-Alternate Realities

New York City.  A fantastic place that involves all your senses.

Fort Myers, FL. This second image is taken further south, about 1,250 miles [2,012 km] away. Here’s a destination where the senses aren’t always engaged. Let’s just say “relaxed” is a more fitting adjective. Finally, both photos were taken approximately around the same time of day: late afternoon.

Strength Revealed

The primary entrance ramp to our office garage is undergoing a major rebuild. I spoke with one of the engineers who told me the short version of what needs to be done. What amazed me most was not the materials being used [steel], but the forces impressed on each steel structure to make sure everything stays in place.

The “L” brackets look like overgrown shelf brackets. They’re attached to  the side of the building with bolts that run through to the other side.

The top part of each cantilever [the “L” bracket] is also bolted to a length of I-beam steel. The beams look like tracks with missing sections; nothing though is missing here on the inside of that ramp wall. In engineer-speak, “form follows function.”

The panels that are the ramps are also big and heavy. Very heavy. One of the challenges is where and how to position a crane to offload a panel. Parts of the street are suspect because of storage rooms and passages lying beneath. The weight of the crane, the truck and equipment can very well “drop” into a hole of its own making.

An anchor point for the ramp…

A Somber Trait

Much of human history is peppered with a notion that when we don’t understand the unknown, we become defensive, fearful and hesitant. Granted the opposite is also true; we can become bold, curious and willing to take a chance. There’s a dichotomy between assumptions and reactions.  The sentiments in the plaque attest to these notions. Just where you straddle this dichotomous line depends on how you define yourself.

A commencement address given a few years ago might shed some light on my post. It was delivered by Tim Minchin, an alum of the University of Western Australia. His career path is one created by an awareness for all things sentient. Minchin reminds me of my own college journey in liberal arts; I found such great value in what and how you feel in terms of art, music, literature, philosophy and all those disciplines of study that pre-dated this notion that mindfulness and empathy and emotional intelligence are somehow new constructs of our modern, western world.

In his comments, his last 3 points made in impression of sorts:

#7) define yourself with what you love, not what you hate; #9) respect people with less power than you, and #9) don’t rush…

Are you leaning more to one side or the other of that dichotomous line…?