Metaphysical Archives - Page 2 of 4 - The Art of Perception

Another Prolonged Interpretation

“All humans by nature desire to know. An indication of this is our liking for the perceptual capacities. For even apart from their utility, these are liked because of themselves — and most of all the one because of the eyes. For it is not only in order to do an action, but even when […]

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June 4, 2022 By Redburnusa
Experiencing A Delayed Epiphany

One might argue that each successful photograph either has resulted from an epiphany, or tends to create that quickening of perception in the viewer of the finished image. Consider a few of the term’s mundane (non-theological) formulations: (1): a typically sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something. (2): an […]

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May 10, 2022 By Redburnusa
Yearning for My Childhood Kaleidoscope

“There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, The earth, and every common sight, To me did seem Apparelled in celestial light, The glory and freshness of a dream. It is not now as it hath been of yore; Turn wheresoe’r I may, By night or day, The things which I have seen […]

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February 26, 2022 By Redburnusa
Revenant — Young Woman Shopkeeper

Our modern simulations of historical characters and circumstances at times seem uncannily real and present. This image of a frontier shop-clerk with a wary look exiting a doorway strikes me as extremely high-caliber mimicry.

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February 21, 2022 By Redburnusa
A Family of Parallel Lines

“Right before our eyes, a conceptual miracle has occurred: We have captured infinity! As we view the landscape, there is a horizon. The horizon is not a physical thing, but an idealization. Yet the image the horizon casts on our canvas is unquestionably real. It is a unique, specific point — the point at infinity […]

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February 14, 2022 By Redburnusa
Human Hands IV — In The Realm of Eros

“JUST AROUND THE CORNER THERE’S HEARTACHE.” (John R. Cash) We are at a pagan festivity unfolding in a cavernous building — once a 19th Century tobacco warehouse-cum-distillery of whiskey, now defunct. The structure’s walls remain original brick — exposed and distressed over passing years — now in vogue for these clandestine celebrations. Those […]

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December 31, 2021 By Redburnusa
Make-Shift Holy Place With Solar Torches

One finds throughout the United States roadside shrines like this one, typically memorializing a life ended in trauma at that very spot on the highway. It powerfully impacts the unsuspecting foot-traveler. Similarly I have noticed a few cities have embedded metal plaques in their sidewalks, designed to call a pedestrian’s attention to the precise location […]

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December 30, 2021 By Redburnusa
Human Hands (2)

What do the monk’s hands say? Is their message meant for us? His right hand reaches toward regions above — beckons confidently from an arm bow-shaped and true, seems to call down immortality with some authority. His left hand appearing more plump falls lower, And now to a woman’s arm it seems attached. Palm is […]

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October 5, 2021 By Redburnusa
- Aesthetics
- Metaphysical
Searching For Shadows

It is an adventure to explore Shadow entries in a complete lexicon. You turn away frazzled after an hour’s study, weighed down by the sensation you know less than when you began. Shadow’s most cogent definition seems to be: the dark figure cast upon a surface by a body intercepting the rays from a source […]

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June 16, 2021 By Redburnusa
On the Replication of Beauty

“Beauty brings copies of itself into being. It makes us draw it, take photographs of it, or describe it to other people. Sometimes it gives rise to exact replication and other times to resemblances and still other times to things whose connection to the original site of inspiration is unrecognizable. Elaine Scarry in On Beauty And […]

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June 14, 2021 By Redburnusa

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About the Author

Redburnusa is a pseudonym used by a photographer living near Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Howerton comments on meaning in photography and his own journey from the perspective of a seeker, rather than a professional artist or credentialed intellectual. He has authored each journal entry. Mr. Howerton has created and edited every image appearing here, unless otherwise indicated in the text. To contact him personally, write to crhowerton@gmail.com.

You can view his Desert Portfolio here: http://www.desertperceptions.com.

Another Prolonged Interpretation

Experiencing A Delayed Epiphany

Yearning for My Childhood Kaleidoscope

Revenant — Young Woman Shopkeeper

A Family of Parallel Lines

Human Hands IV — In The Realm of Eros

Make-Shift Holy Place With Solar Torches

Human Hands (2)

Searching For Shadows

On the Replication of Beauty

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