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A Most Challenging Look
Continue ReadingIn their frankness her eyes disconcert me. She projects a feline look — bold, provocative; her lips curl toward a snarl and her teeth show just slightly — maybe in anger. She is a spectator on a sidewalk waiting for a parade to commence. To honor Saint Patrick, our lady has turned out in purple […]
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Why I Came Home Early
Continue ReadingAssume you are a middle-aged man born and raised in North America. You are journeying alone through the Middle East, and for two years solid you have no significant contact with a woman, or any group of women. By that I mean: no smiles and no exchange of words; no eye contact; and no matter […]
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A Scene From Yesteryear
Continue ReadingIn this slice of American history, relaxation — and sturdy confidence — run as themes throughout. Epitome of cool affluence, A royal beagle oozes the calm of an awakened being. The machine? Voluptuous (almost-carnal) red — Code for feminine heat and elegance. An illustrious era has gone by and is lost. U.S. flags at times […]
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On Visiting A Bonfire-Site
Continue ReadingA Ruined Chapel in the California Desert Beyond the typical “I Was Here” announcements and the profanity left by PHUX; also disregarding the unfortunate pictures of women with no features beyond vulgar lips and distorted breasts, is there anything deeper here — anything of significance? There is no public history — nothing in newspapers […]
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Another Anomalous Vision
Continue Reading“If an extraterrestrial came to earth and witnessed this scene, what would it think?” The inquiry above is a warmed-over, often-repeated banality; nevertheless the question applies legitimately to our image. How could even our elite domestic anthropologists ever understand this behavior? It is very strange. Is the headgear in reality a cooling machine created […]
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Two Men On A Truck
Continue ReadingI captured this image while sitting in the passenger seat of taxicab rolling in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a typical street scene. Egyptian men have senses of humor, despite the seriousness you see in this photograph. Their witticisms might be characterized: sharply ironic — and at times — sarcastic. For instance: It is common to […]
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An Impression of Cairo Nights
Continue ReadingYou find only superficial differences in Egypt between the armed forces, the police, big business and national government. Indeed it seems the army owns and operates the whole country. Our subjects are soldiers; yet they patrol Cairo streets like regular (albeit amateur) cops. They do so in a relaxed manner — as you can see […]
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This Might Become a Collector’s Item
Continue ReadingA Catastrophic Fall from Power Near the bottom of our faded billboard, Arabic letters spell out (right-to-left): Mohamed Hosni Mubarak. The flattering illustration depicts a heroic man in the prime of life and solidly in control — the undisputed modern Egyptian Pharaoh who had ruled his kingdom twenty-eight years. Two years after I made […]
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More Inhabitants of the Cairo Streets
Continue ReadingI do not know how much these Egyptian guys earn for recycling bags formerly containing cement. They have taken professional care in folding and transporting their used merchandise; however, considering their worn-out sandals, ragged clothing and the ancient bicycle they use for transportation, we can conclude they receive enough money to feed themselves and not […]
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Can A Photograph Represent Sound?
Continue ReadingThe sound I am wondering about is no-sound, the lack of clatter — silence, soft and ubiquitous. Could a photographic image somehow acquire that meaning? At least in my mind this one comes close. On a Las Vegas late afternoon many people shelter in their hotel rooms, having entered a video-trance or maybe gone down […]
Latest Entries
A Most Challenging LookIn Cultural Anthropology, Environmental Portraiture, Street PhotographyIn their frankness her eyes disconcert me. She […]
Why I Came Home EarlyIn Autobiographical, Cultural Anthropology, Egypt, Middle EastAssume you are a middle-aged man born and raised in […]
A Scene From YesteryearIn Americana, Cultural Anthropology, Street PhotographyIn this slice of American history, relaxation — […]
On Visiting A Bonfire-SiteIn Art Historical, Cultural Anthropology, Pilgrimages, ReportageA Ruined Chapel in the California Desert […]
Another Anomalous VisionIn Americana, Cultural Anthropology, Inexplicables, Street Photography“If an extraterrestrial came to earth and […]