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Intersecting World History
Continue ReadingTo those who would bear the hopes and future of the people, let the voice of their guns express the words of freedom. Death to the Fascist Insect that preys upon the life of the people. (Rallying Cry of the Symbionese Liberation Army) “Greetings, my comrade sisters and brothers, all love, power and freedom […]
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Uncommon Imagery in a Turkish Storefront
Continue ReadingI explored every street in downtown Selçuk, Turkey. I also sampled outlying neighborhoods. This wedding photographer’s window-display represents the only public imagery bordering on the erotic I saw in that town; in fact, I saw nothing so blatant during the rest of my trip through the conservative country of Turkey, which included a week’s stay […]
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Breaking the Fast
Continue ReadingThroughout Cairo at sundown during Holy Month, men come out into the streets to eat after a day of abstaining from food, water, cigarettes, even chewing gum and sex of any kind. If all goes perfectly, they will avoid harmful thoughts also during daylight hours. If you go out shopping or just strolling at midday […]
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Chagrin — Captured in the Wild
Continue ReadingCHAGRIN: Disquietude. Distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment or failure. Vexed, frustrated, annoyed, disappointed, expressing displeasure. If life, liberty and all of the future depended on it, I could not recreate on my face this expression of pure chagrin. I recorded the lady at a race track in Middle America. Catching her reaction […]
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More On the Human Tendency to Memorialize
Continue ReadingThis wall-shrine I photographed at a pizza place owned by Indian immigrants in the Mormon hamlet of Bicknell. It is the only place open here at night excepting the Qwik-Stop, which also closes at 10pm. The restaurant serves many varieties of pizza-pie with curried toppings, has Southeast Asian television shows playing continuously; nevertheless it has […]
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Homage For Robert Johnson
Continue Reading“I got ramblin’ I got ramblin’ on my mind I got ramblin’ I got ramblin’ all on my mind Hate to leave you baby But you treats me so unkind” Lyric by Robert Johnson Ask a painter, musician, writer — anyone practicing a difficult art to confide their heroes; they usually will not hesitate. Their […]
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An American Refugee
Continue ReadingIn the 19th Century some historical roles were reversed. For instance: the United States — and not a Middle Eastern country — had an industrial Civil War in progress, killing soldiers and uprooting civilians. A million-and-a-half military casualties occurred in less than five years in the USA, including men dead in battle and those suffering […]
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Homage to Edward Hopper
Continue ReadingI had driven a thousand miles west stopping just once to sleep. On the high plains of Kansas I ran into sleet and bitter winds. For reasons unknown, I am without luck in these situations; again and again forced into remote towns under heavy weather, where travelers confront poor choices among accommodations. That night — […]
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Encountering Complex Symbolism
Continue ReadingDiscovering an exciting new English phrase in the wild. An advertising professional produced this wordplay: IN BRUNCH WE TRUST I found this intransitive declaration on placards appearing on every residential floor of a Las Vegas hotel, opposite elevator doors. Each of seven landings had an urban backdrop showing through floor-to-ceiling picture windows: views of rooftops, […]
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