Gaia Community: Craig Photography's Blog

The Original Whatever

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:55:39 -0000

What follows is a brief zygote of an idea. Once a week I will be posting snap shots of my current writing project. All post will be titled "The Original Whatever".

So I get to be a writer, of sorts, so they tell me, pending government approval of my tax status. This will make a lot of people pretty damn cynical and mad about the current state of writing in this country. Let me give you a list of reasons why I should not be a writer.

1. I am a terrible speller; even with the use of spellchecker I am still dreadfully bad at spelling. A fear of mine is that I actually write a book that people buy and I have to go to book signings and the public discovers that I cannot spell anyone's name correctly when autographing their copy of my book.

2. "There", "their" and that third spelling of "they're" all mean the same thing to me. I toss "their", "there" and "they're" anywhere and hope for the best.

3. The use of commas, apostrophes and remembering to add "s" on to the end of plural words remain a mystery to me. Thank goodness for my Editor-at-Large, Elizabeth (my wife who can spell magnificently and totally gets the "their", there", "they're" thing.)

4. My friends who actually want to be writers, who have degrees in writing, who have a trilogy of already completed novels, edited and saved on their computers, will be furious with me that I got published before them. (p.s. these friends are way better at spellchecker and grammar pro combined.) I am always calling them and asking "how do you spell that" and "what's that wavy ~ symbol used for again") Yep they will want to kick my ass and I will not even use my superhero powers of Creative Non-Fiction Man to protect myself. I deserved it.

Chasing a Rainbow for Joe Perez

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:35:22 -0000

This story may seem a little odd, but it's a true story. Well, actually it's an event that reads like a story. I chased down a rainbow last night for Joe Perez. Let me start out with some background on the how and the why I became involved in chasing a rainbow for Perez.

Perez is a write/blogger based out Seattle, WA. Don't you just love using phrases such as "based out of" instead of simply saying, "lives in". I do. It makes my inner journalist smile. I have not yet met Joe but I have shared a couple of e-mail exchanges, one phone conversation, co-authored a short lived blog with him, and read his book. I feel confident in saying if I lived in Seattle, or better yet, if I were based out of Seattle, Perez and I would be friends. With that being said, from this point forward I will be referring to Perez, as Joey. Why? Because I like adding a "y" to the end of all my friends' first names whenever possible. You cannot say names like Joey, Jenny, Mickey, and Glenney without smiling.

Back to why I was chasing a rainbow last night for my friend Joey. On Joey's blog he uses an old rainbow photo of mine whenever he writes about gay rights and gay related issues. I love the idea (and am thankful) that he has chosen one of my photos to symbolize a reoccurring theme in his work. Here is the problem; I do not like the photograph that I took. It's a diffused, bland, grayish shot taken quickly before dusk set in. I did not properly set up the shot; I did not use a tri-pod and did not even have the camera set to the correct adjustment. It is a snapshot, not a photograph.

That's the back story, this is the how the event unfolded.

Let me paint you a picture of the rainbow I was chasing for Joey. This multicolored arc in the sky combined all seven colors of rainbows from bright red at the top to the beautiful violet beam closest to earth. All shafts of light with the bright, vivid colors of a crayon box. From left to right this rainbow gently kissed the horizon. Directly above this rainbow sat a second rainbow softly muted with hues of fading light. That was a majestic moment of the splendor and glory of our landscape. Come on, when do you get the chance to see a rainbow sitting atop of a second rainbow. Wow.

As for me, I got to enjoy all these magnificent images sent from heaven above while driving along a six lane interstate highway doing 75mph at the end of rush hour. It was right at the point when driving goes from sitting in traffic (the-non-rush-hr) to "get out of my bleeping way", when the interstate becomes a NASCAR track.

I moved into survival mode, staying alive, taking pleasure in all the splendor of the rainbow and did not kill anybody, especially myself. Here I am, 75 mph, staring out my driver's side window, listening to R.E.M. tremendously too loud on the stereo and thinking about Joey and how I would like to update that photo. Did I mention, no camera on board, damn, damn, damn...?

I call my wife, who is in the middle of editing a large photo project herself and I ask her to run outside and snap off a couple of shots. 75mph, staring out my driver's side window, listening to R.E.M. tremendously too loud and now I am on my cell phone, what could go wrong? My wife gets back on the phone, "no rainbow in the sky, sorry" damn, damn, damn...

What next? Have to pick up my daughter at the Grandparents damn, damn, damn... I have no camera, my wife does not have a shot and I am running out of time and light. I feel like I am chasing a rainbow in a ghost town. Nobody is ever going to believe the perfection of this rainbow.

That's the end of my story. I never got the shot for Joey and I will have to live with the photo that he is using. I never caught the rainbow, only chased it. Anyway what would I do with a pot of gold?

Hey did I tell you about the leprechaun?

Bio

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:07:14 -0000

1969: Life began and men landed on the moon.

69-72: Cradle years, no memories but I am desperately afraid of bars to this day.

1977: Second grade: First music teacher, drum lesson, he always called us girls. Never forgot his teaching.

1982: Seventh grade: Picked up the guitar and got good at sports (finally), well not very good just not embarrassingly bad.

1984: Ninth grade: First band called "The Blast", and it was. Grew hair, made parents proud.

1987: Graduated High School, my parents proved the power of prayer.

1988: Went to college - Communication major - Literature, philosophy and photography came alive to me.

1989: Met Jesus and said "hi", read a lot of Nietzsche.

1991: Understood Nietzsche, some of it. Had "The College Bar-Band", wrote really bad poetry and song lyrics, great period of my life but not even close to the best period.

1992: Hello real world. That costs how much????

1993: Met Buddha, asked him "where did you get those sandals", he responded "walk right down that middle path over there".

1994 - 2000: Took a lot of photos, traveled the country and survived Y2K of pending death.

1996: Was given a dog as a gift, Kiani (a.k.a. -the K-man), the best spiritual teacher ever. Walked into the woods, discovered God. Actually the K-man introduced us.

2001: Put out first CD with Sarah Wilkins. Played a lot of coffee houses, churches and festivals, discovered that red wine and coffee are my drugs of choice.

2002: Introduced to Elizabeth, breathed air for the very first time.

2003: Put out first and only instrumental CD.

2004: Married Elizabeth, proving the power of prayer to myself.

2005: Craig Photography became a husband and wife team, best lifestyle, economical, decision ever. "E" and I rock as a team. Went to Italy, brought back a bean.

2006: Elizabeth gave birth to the "Bean", we call her Ella. The "E -Team came alive.

07-Present: Smile all the time, best period of my life so far......

Moleskinerie

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:07:00 -0000

Typically, I am not one for submitting my work, but I did (here) and they published it.

The Culture of my Youth

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:05:26 -0000

As a young boy I grew up in a small town that had its own spirit and culture. The town was a blend of old-world traditions mixed with the current happenings of present society. This memory, barely twenty years old for me, now feels more like an indigenous culture in a world that has gone away.

My friends were either one hundred percent Italian or one hundred percent Irish. I was a 50/50 split, mutt blend of sorts. I would grow up to like beer with my spaghetti. I yearned for my last name to end with a vowel or to have the double constant of "cC" at the start of my last name. For me, my last name was stuck with five non-repeating letters with the vowels placed properly in the middle.

The ethnicity of our parents meant the customs of the old-world, "the mother land" as I would jokingly refer to it. Church, spaghetti dinners, team sports and yard work were the fundamentals of life. We were all Catholic with a large "C". We listened to Springsteen, watched the Steelers and drank iced tea out of the cardboard box container, three for 97 cents from the corner store. This is when having a local economy and local store were a convenience of life. The 20 minute drive out of town to the Mall or the store was a waste of a good afternoon that could be better spent playing ball down at the field. The field was what we called the park that we would meet at everyday, I'm sure this field had a proper name but I never new it.

The seasons were marked by the change in the sports we played rather than the weather or the color of the leaves on the trees. Winter - football, spring - baseball, summer - basketball, autumn - more basketball and wiffle ball that was played on the basketball court after they took down the nets for the season. I never got good at basketball even though I have played more pick up games than most NBA players would dream of. I always thought if I ever wrote a book about my life I would title it, "Because I couldn't make a jump shot". Nonetheless poor basketball skills fueled my motivation for practicing guitar.

Sundays were blocked off for family dinners, watching football and sitting on the sofa. This was my town's version of keeping the Sabbath. Commandments four and five were taken very seriously, sort of. Being of the large "C" Catholics that we were, keeping the remaining eight commandments were easy, no stealing, no murdering, no coveting all seems pretty simple not to break. Nobody was quite sure what "bearing false witness against your neighbor" was, so that one didn't count if we broke it. Number three, not taking the Lord's name in vain, was only a problem for the parents.

Grandparents lived within walking distance. Mine lived next door; great for getting an extra dish of late night ice cream, bad for sneaking girls into your house when your parents went away.

We were the sons of blue-collar fathers. We fixed our own cars, borrowed tools from our neighbors and mended fences. Truth be told, I never actually mended a fence but I am sure I painted one or two in my time. "Work with your back or work with your mind", "bring the work to you instead of you going to the work". That is what my Father ritually recited to me when working. Metaphors that turned out to be great advice for working in photography, blending your hands and mind worked out to be the perfect fit for me.

It is said that culture is watching the world construct itself before it goes, a gift from our imagination. My culture planted seeds.

The Best Photographer I Know

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:38:18 -0000

My compositional approach to photography (or all creative skills) is to keep one foot rooted in the ancient and one foot planted in the future.

The best photographer I know does not work in the photography industry. He works in construction. He walked away from the trade when a photograph became a lie. The idea of after capture manipulation combined with the layering use of Photoshop killed the art form for him.

Even though he has been out of the industry for well over a decade, he is still the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to photography. Often when I am troubleshooting a workflow problem he will give me a back-to-basic (back to camera) answer. His comprehension is rooted in the classic approach to capturing an image. Light first, your time second.

He no longer owns a camera or reads current photography publications, nonetheless the depth and span of his craft is well intact.

I have found time and time again the best at their craft do not work in the industry.

When I was playing music on a professional level, countless times I would share the stage with much more established and popular performers. Frequently I found their talents to be superior in marketing than in musicianship. For myself, on numerous occasions, I would meet an older gentleman after a show that looks like he had never even seen a guitar, then watch as he picked up my guitar and listened as he schooled me on what true musicianship is.

Previously I have written about "Natural Depth of Field" and posted a photo and asked the reader to guess how it was taken. The photo received hundreds of hits and only one guess??? Why is before capture thought becoming less and less of creative thought. I am stating a new series that I call "Mystery Gallery". Photography done in camera, no Photoshop, no layers, no filters, no manipulation or enhancements at all...

Question to the working artist out there: What's more important to you--the past or the future of your craft?

Recommendations

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:08:24 -0000

PODCAST: Tech Fatigue Dan Allison, the POLYSEMY Multimedia Director, recently wrote a blog entry called "Feeling weary of the internet and technology in general". This was cause for Dan and Matthew Dallman, our editor in chief, to discuss further issues raised in the piece, and in the course of the spontaneous discussion touch what we mean by technology, and how this relates to the creative process. This episode's inquiry: Do we have a too-limited definition of "technology"?

Late Night Mosaic

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:28:37 -0000

Started a new project late last night...

Notes from the Road to Recovery

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:07:12 -0000

No mediation or yoga for days now, body not as stiff as I thought it would become. Mind clearer than I would have guessed it to be.

Vicodin, moments of stillness, hearing my own breath, cravings for scotch, motion all around me, quiet in my head, piano music plays in the background.

Sunday 9am woken by a crying baby, headache, and day five of recovery from sinus surgery. Toast, eggs and coffee prepared by Elizabeth for me. Life for her must be trying, I always seem to be sick – I am sorry for that. My daughter sits on my lap and eats my eggs. I’m thankful for the time spent with her.

Children, life and time seem to be equations meant for failure. If you spend too much time with your child, then as a provider for your family you will fail. If you spend too much time away from your family providing from them than as a Father you will fail your child. Balance with self-expectation; no clue how to answer that?

Watched the “The Darjeeling Limited” today. Good existentialism film. Not much of beginning-middle-end plot line, nonetheless I enjoyed it. Been reading “Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate” by Wendy Johnson. It’s a lovely memoir on soil, composting, and Zen. I am reading about dirt and enjoying it, could be a sign of old age?

Left over pizza and apple slices for dinner. Want to go for a walk, should sleep.

Blog Book & Time Off

Thu, 15 May 2008 21:00:00 -0000

The idea of turning the archive of this blog into a book is something that I have been thinking about. (Here) you can download a table of contents with hyperlinks to postings. I have divided the subject into Art, Humor, Conscious Consumer Capitalism, Moment(s), Photo of the Week(s) & Personal. Read it all or just pick the titles that jump out at you... You will need to register (simple, painless & no spam or additional e-mails will be sent to you) to download the document.

"In Search of the Original Whatever" My greatest hits and misses from two years of blogging about Art, Morals and truths....

If the birth of this idea goes well the next step will be re-writing and adding some new un-published stuff and then off to the editors.

I am taking time off to clear the head (literally-having sinus surgery, and figuratively-to quiet the mind.)

See you June 2, be nice to each other and remember to eat your vegetables...

5 Question Interview Series with Katherine Turner

Wed, 14 May 2008 14:55:44 -0000

Katherine Turner is the author of Dating God, which is a blog that focuses on her journey throughout the cosmos. Her style of writing is configuring life-as-a-jigsaw-puzzle fitting it all together with dancing words. She has recently just completed her first novel, appropriately titled "Dating God". Katherine graciously agreed to take part in my ongoing "5 Question Interview Series".

Please tell me about your novel. Is it autobiographical in nature, fiction, spiritual or all of the above?

It's called Dating God of course :) I don't yet have a groove to offer up as a synopsis, so instead I give you some adjectives/images: psychic bartender meets hero cop; downwardly/inwardly mobile; high quality cigarettes and double cappuccinos; human love versus true love; sexual healing; urban dwelling versus ecovillage; holy moments in unlikely spaces; tequila; angels cleverly disguised as buttheads; the soulmate machinery; saving your own life.

It's fiction, and it's spiritual. It's also rowdy and funky. It's not autobiographical, but it contains things that I'm intimate with. For example, I tended bar in NYC and dated cops. I went through a rough patch understanding how to manage my psychic abilities. I was a hottie who got hit on a lot, and used it like ecstatic currency. I drank lots of tequila and coffee, smoked a lot of cigarettes. People that knew me from that time will recognize elements of reality, but the story is all in my head/heart.

Will your blog readers of the past 5 years (congratulations on that) get a sneak peak before publication?

I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. My instincts say to offer it up to DG readers, let them read it before it goes anywhere. But this also makes me nervous (as you probably know from being a blogger yourself) as some blog readers have "orifice ripper" as their undeclared (and largely unconscious) but righteously pursued avocation. So, I'm more inclined to just send it to the few dozen folks who comment a lot and are warm-hearted and will be supportive, even if they pass on constructive criticism (which I hope they do). But who knows? Maybe I'll just toss the whole shebang wide open and let folks have at it :) (Most likely I'll open it up in ever-widening circles . . .)

What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?

I think I have a sort of "perspective" OCD that expresses itself verbally. I'll go through an experience or witness something, and I become obsessed with telling it in a way that captures the emotional light I saw it in. And it has to be done first person. I've tried other narratives and it loses its fire.

I remember someone telling me that you can't "want" to be a writer. You either write or you don't. I totally agree with that. I'm motivated to write like I'm motivated to eat. I love food and I eat to stay alive. I love words and I write to stay alive. This is not a metaphor.

I've been writing since I was seven or eight and have never stopped. I'm obsessed with words and concepts, heightened states of being and wild wooly metaphors, verbal symbols that stand for huge swaths of organic experience and the power of raw unflinching honesty. I love that I can take an experience, perspective, that lives inside of me, animates me, and with the right combo of words, transfer that experience into you. It's like making love. Telepathically :)

Your life seems to be a voyage that is perfectly expressed by blogging: Do we know the real you or do you keep a private life that is not told to your readers?

I think folks are always a little disappointed to meet me. I'm actually pretty quiet in person, withdrawn. I don't like to be seen. All of which is the exact opposite of what I'm like on the blog. Plus, I have a hard time with most folk's energy, and tend to be avoidant, which people tend to take personally :) I also think that it appears that I love to dwell on Problems, love to Vent and Be Vented Upon, when in fact this is my idea of Fiery, Burning Hell, Live and On Location. IRL, I prefer to just live and leave the gumflapping exchange for others to exercise. (Although I seem to have an almost bottomless well of listening for the handful of people I love, the people who I get truly love me.)

The only parts I withhold from the blog are info about other people that would hurt them or freak them out to see made public, and negative spew that would add to the Pointless Bullshit of the world. (although I have been very guilty of posting both)

How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by your blog audience compare with writing the blog?

I actually didn't write this book with anyone in mind. I just wrote it because it was burning a hole in my brain and heart. And I wrote the first draft 10 years ago, way before I even knew what a blog was.

The latest draft (that I finished last month) was actually written with a credo (written with a purple and green sharpie and scotch taped to the wall in front of my desk) that reads: "DatingGod: 1. Show Up 2. Write It From Now 3. Make Art, Tell Your Story". I had gotten so incredibly stuck that I knew that rewriting was pointless. I hated the book, knew it was shite, but felt powerless to fix it, even as I could feel this shining truth radiating out of it, haunting me and taunting me and telling me that it was going to f*ck my sh*t up for the rest of my life if I didn't get at it.

I finally grew the ovaries to do a shamanic journey around it, and I met with an editor in shamanic reality who told me how to finish the book. He was this sweet, funny man, and he told me that I needed to put myself in front of my computer, to have the courage to show up. And then I needed to stop trying to write from who I was, who I used to be ten years ago when that first draft was completed, and instead have the courage to write from where I am, who I am Now. It was outrageously scary. And like performing a million amputations. But incredibly liberating. The book actually turned into something that didn't make me feel like vomiting from embarrassment every time I thought of how many people I'd let read it over the past decade. (I still cringe. I'm cringing even right now :) And of course, now this latest draft makes me gag too, which means that it still needs another draft. And on and on and on . . .

I can't wait to finish it. I can't wait to let you read it :)

Ambient Mosaic

Wed, 14 May 2008 13:34:02 -0000

Guess what it is & how it was taken..... (Contest)

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:37:46 -0000

The winner will receive a custom print from my ambient collection.... All entries must be submitted by Thursdays of this week by 9 pm EST. Please leave your guess in the comment selection no e-mails will be accepted...

Photo of the Week

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:07:38 -0000

Camera: Nikon D200
Exposure: 0.667 sec (2/3)
Aperture: f/25
Focal Length: 62 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

I had the very enjoyable opportunity to take some photos at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwaters estate this past Saturday. Edna the curator of the property gave us the behind the scene tour of the grounds. The un-excavated land along with the placement of the home was the most impressive part of the experience for me.

Do to copyright agreements this photo is not licensed with creative commons. Please enjoy the photo but do not distribute.

Moment

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:10:33 -0000

Current Reading: Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami

Current Music: Seeds by Martin Sexton

Mood: Frustrated

Sounds: Road construction

Smells: Coffee

Temperature: 60 degrees and light rain

Thoughts: Using your faith to instill fear in people is an act of terrorism.

Journal

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:45:19 -0000

Have you ever noticed how un-strange it seems when an unfamiliar person sees that you are reading the same book that they just read? It‘s natural, no hesitation of approach, instead there is friendship, instead there is conversation. This is opposed to how foreign it feels when a stranger moves toward you for any other reason...they need directions, to know the time of day or whatnot. Observations are a fun part of life, no point needed.

I have been feeling disconnected from a couple of friends because of their dysfunction and my judgments. I will leave it to the psyche and shadow people to figure out if I am a walking contradiction or just no longer numb to the abusers that society surrounds me with.

Two o'clock in the afternoon, eating lunch outside and reading a book: rice and vegetables and keeping company with Dance, Dance, Dance by Murakami and enjoying both a lot. Pittsburgh weather has always been akin to late night TV to me, predictable but not enjoyable. The sun's heat moves from bright and warming to cloud-covered skies with cold breezes all within the same sixty seconds. Sun glare to diffused vision all on the same page, odd reading experience. The wind is fragrant with late spring flowers at the end of their budding season. Three bees buzz by my left knee, they leave me alone, good. Tiny white flowers or leaves, not sure which, dance through the air and land in my lunch and on the page I'm reading. Sort of fun to watch, sort of.

Photo of the Week

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:20:24 -0000

Camera: Nikon D70s
Exposure: 2 sec (2)
Aperture: f/22
Focal Length: 34 mm
ISO Speed: 500
Exposure Bias: 0 EV

Over at Polysemy

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:49:18 -0000

Some good reading:
The Nature of Aesthetic Study
Feeling weary of the internet and technology in general

Active Citizen

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:35:20 -0000

How can I affect change in the world without being a pain in the ass to those around me?

- Give without expectations.
- Work with a purpose.
- Be the change you want to see in the world and in turn that will create the change in the world that you want to see.
- Living your faiths well is far more important than evangelizing your faith in others.

Those are all mantras that I have tried to live my life by. I have felt that they would affect the most amount of positive change in the world with the least amount of negativity projecting onto others. I no longer consider that those ideologies work.

New ideologies needed.

I have been stuck in a quagmire lately, surrounded by people who just do not care about themselves, their health, their environment or the person standing next to them (society). For the most part all of these people are nice people. They pay their taxes, support their churches, support their favorite sport teams, all the while quietly killing themselves with the lifestyle they choose to lead. They are completely oblivious to the damage that they are infecting on themselves, society and the environment in which they live in. Forgive me for the harshness of what I am going to say next: - nevertheless they all seem to be numb, without hope or emotion to care about anybody but themselves.

This condition of quiet surrender to selfishness is killing the planet.

The state of healthcare is out of control simply because 80% of people who have healthcare insurance do not care about improving their health. This is the greatest abuse of the system, causing the largest amount of damage to the overall effectiveness of the medical industry and rising insurance costs. The environment is on the decline simply because people choose not to change their spending habits. We, as Americans, place 40% of toxins and pollution into the atmosphere and water. We also support slavery with our consumerism-mentality. The amount of oil, coal and natural recourses we waste is an uncountable number.

Last week I wrote a post titled: "Citizens' Responsibility Towards the Future of Healthcare" I e-mailed a couple of my favorite bloggers asking for feedback. The following paragraph is a strong counterpoint to my argument that is well worth reading. Katherine (a.k.a.) Dating God responded:

"What ails people these days is not simply their fault. Refined-carbs pumped into the food supply, tobacco portrayed for years as glamorous and calming for the nerves, fast food made so quick and easy and cheap that only the wealthy can afford to not eat there. I'll stop now. but seriously, it isn't as simple as saying: these folks just refuse to take care of themselves. if you surround a person with heroin, with people who do heroin, with ads saying Heroin Is Good For You!, decorate it in pretty, sultry packaging, have doctors recommend it, offer it cheaply and easily, if you do all this, is it still simply an individual's fault if they use? isn't it then a community problem?"

Again - these people whom I am complaining about are nice people and some of them are my friends and family. (I am in no way innocent of these sins myself). These are the people that give to charity when asked. These are the people that help out the neighborhood in times of need.

They still smoke, eat foods that they know will create disease in them, and cannot even think about making a positive environmental choice. We have forsaken logic and reason for un-attainable dreams of wealth and power (entitlement factor). We as a society are far too disconnected to feel-believe-understand what is happening on the very soil we stand upon. This brings me back to my first sentence.

How can I affect change in the world without being a pain in the ass to those around me?

I am tired of the all the polite head-nods I get when explaining the state of our nation to others. I want change. The reason I care is because (with anger in my heart) I no longer want to pay for the sins of others. I want my daughter to inherit a better world than the one she was born into. I want her to know I tried. Some day she'll be all grown up and she'll rightfully want to know what I did to leave her a better earth than the one I brought her into.

I have an internal call to become an activist of sorts. However I am not sure where to direct my efforts. Health, environment and education all seem to be where my passions lie.

An active citizen is what I want to trigger in people. If citizens can change their actions, then laws, corporations and governments will change to fit the people's needs accordingly. It's not too late to cultivate the emotions of caring.

Learning to be comfortable with contradictions is a path to enlightenment.

In search of active citizens to fight the quiet surrender to numbness in society wanted.

Exterior to Interior Photography

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:38:22 -0000

How do we create - Something out of nothing - Backyard Photography

I have been working on a different type of photography project. In this venture I have to look at the final image forever! It's for my home. It's true; I have never solely set out to create art for my own space. My home is filled with photographs although they are all images selected from archival work. Never before have I set out knowing where the final image would be displayed.

Completing a project and then detaching myself from the ownership of the work has been one of my favorite aspects of photography. Having passion for the process and being able to let go of the work for somebody else's pleasure or judgment is the ultimate non-attachment for the ending image. In music or acting it seems that you are always selling the song or moment to the audience, but in photography it's one click of the shutter and then on to the next image. The light is never the same twice.

P.S. - The premise I set for myself is that all images must be taken on my own property. The challenge for me is to work with what you got, instead of searching out the perfect location I want to limit the location to what is already there. It makes me feel that it's a sustainable/recyclable photography project. Bring the beauty from the exterior of the home into the interior of the home.