My online journal sharing interests in photography, nature, coffee life, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, spirituality and asking deep questions.
“You just have to live and life will give you pictures.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
I do not always know what will be found between the lines of the pages on my journal. But for over 20 years I’ve taken my pen in hand and opened myself to those blank pages. Words then come, as a gift. And, I think life will also give us words as well as pictures.
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” ― Ray Bradbury
When I was younger I seldom read books. Homework? I glanced through them for the book reports. College text books, yuck! Novels? Very few interested me. After high school I spent 4 years in the military, began a family and pursued some form of a career and reading was not part of that.
Fast forward into my 40’s and a shift of interests lead me in search for nonfiction books on philosophy, spirituality and religion studies. I ‘m still searching. No longer were the answers that important as I became enticed with asking more questions, a full time student without taking finals. I feel the searching for more questions lead me to discover more about myself and the world around me. I began to collect a nice little library. Many of these books, and their authors, became my friends. I no longer allowed Hollywood to create a scene but I let the book and it’s author lead me to create my own scenes, inviting me to explore with my own imagination. When I reread some books I found them even better the second time. Since purchasing an e-reader I read even much more.
In looking at the above image what does it say to you?
Do you read more or less as you’ve aged? Has your subject matter changed over the years and if so why?
This image is straight out of my iphone. I thought about running it through Photoshop to change the minus sign to a plus sign and put a 7 in place of the 1. I’d leave the igloo image, because it’s kool. We are expecting to warm up to a whopping 5 degrees today. Have I been transported to Michigan? Damn it’s cold!
This post is a continuation of the thoughts generated from Earls post on Embracing Chaos and from Tom Dills post on Noise. We all pretty much agree there is visual chaos within nature. I would like to suggest that for some people the sounds of nature may be considered chaos while for others it can be “exalting” music. Music has been an intragel part of man early on. Man has made musical instruments from pounding on hollow logs, carving wooden flutes and violins to our modern mp3 players. Man has chanted and sang for years. Some of us have rhythm and some us struggle to keep the beat. Some can carry a tune and some can’t. I lean more towards the latter of both. When younger I took guitar lessons with aspirations of being a rock star. Due to my lack of musical talent, and dad wouldn’t let me grow my hair long, the reality of that dream quickly faded. Over the past few years listening to rock and roll, country or jazz music no longer appeals for me. I’ve moved away from listening to music or even being around it, choosing quiet or the sounds of nature. So much more enjoyment in the sounds of nature for me.
For me the sounds of nature offers a quiet where the chaotic noise of our society can’t. When March Madness started a couple of my crew members asked me to join them at Buffalo Wild Wings to eat and watch the earlier games. However, attempting to have a conversation with them over the man-made chaos of 20-30 strategically placed televisions is no longer appealing. That is chaos to me. For me the sound of wind blowing through the leaves, the meadowlarks morning song, the cadence of falling rain, or the clap of thunder from a passing storm, or the quiet of a snowfall is a soothing sound to me. Maybe I’m just getting old but it’s natures music that stirs me inside not the beat if a drum.
I had someone ask me if I wrote down my thoughts and feelings at the time I take my images. My answer was no, but that’s a good question to ponder. I’m not sure I go through such a process. I’m just moving along with my gut and intuition. I watch the light, the shadows, texture, color and of course the craft part of the exposure. We need a good exposure to help us communicate what we are seeing. But, I’ve never written down any thoughts or feelings at the time of exposure. So, I’ll ask you the same question, “Do any of you take notes at the time of exposure?”
“I chose nature photography as a way of capturing and sharing the beauty, power, and fragility of wild places and the life that inhabits them, so that those who have become mired in the man-made chaos may open their eyes to the real world.” – Guy Tal
Earl had a wonderful post a few days ago called Embracing Chaos. In that post Earl states “there is a part of me which exaltates the wonders, energy and unease of chaos.” I totally agree!
Once I began to really look at this world I noticed the differences in the designs of nature and those of man. As Edward Weston suggests “nature is crude and lacking in arrangement” compared to what man creates. Yet that chaos affects me in a totally different way than mad-made order. I experience a different feeling when looking at briar patchs along a small creek or the twisted and bent cottonwoods rooted along the banks of a river than I do when I see the 15 shrubs (not 16 as one died and has not been replaced yet) planted in a grid pattern around a neon sign in front of the bank. The chaos of nature does not grate against me the way man-made order does.
These images were taken with my first digital camera, a Nikon D100 and a Nikon 18-35mm or the Nikon 24-85mm lens back in 2003 and 2004. That camera and those lens were instrumental in helping me see and simplify the beauty in the chaos of nature.
I’ve been writing in my journal over the past 20 years. My journaling has been a way to stir up my thoughts and feelings, give birth to ideas, dreams, and put them in black and white on the pages. I also find it is a tool for me to slow down from this busy life. A way to express myself.
I believe this photoblog, both the images and writing, has also helped stir up thoughts and feelings, give birth to ideas, dreams, and put them on the internet. I enjoy the risk of sharing my images and words. It’s allowed me to connect with other photographers all over the world. And, the images and words of others has inspired and taught me so much. This blog offers a part of me through what I write and the images I post. Good or bad they’re just my words.