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An Incorrect Response to An Open Pit
Continue ReadingFor years people have told me that surface mines are bad — at least undesirable — destructive to land, even obliterating whole mountains. Nevertheless I have always found them fascinating to look at and aesthetically pleasing, as described by this image taken on the eastern edge of Arizona.
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Can You Spot the Anomaly?
Continue ReadingThese are 17th Century French fur traders (historical impersonators) angling a canoe toward shore along the Ohio River. A modern detail betrays them, despite their elaborate attempt to deceive.
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Children Playing in Sand and Fog
Continue ReadingA cloud of sand and fog covered Sana’a, Yemen during my one winter’s residence. The odd conditions persisted several days. Neighborhood kids ignored the weather, playing under streetlamps as usual late into evening. On lightly traveled streets Yemeni children stake out playgrounds with exclusive rights; girls enjoy hopscotch and boys organize dodge ball combats — […]
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Is This the Best Salesman in the World?
Continue ReadingThe image portrays Savash, a charismatic Turkish man— master of several languages — instantly a friend to every person he meets. I do not know his job title at the hotel. In other contexts he would be called a rainmaker, a troubleshooting outside man, leading clients toward the restaurant or pushing the lodgings, helping […]
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Praise for the Specimen, #2
Continue ReadingWe were coming to the end of an automobile trip and had reached south of Payson, Arizona. It was late in the day; everyone was tired and we looked forward to sleeping at home for the first time in a week. When I saw this regal cottonwood tree lit by the sun — circled […]
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In Praise of Specimens
Continue ReadingImages of living and and non-living specimens — like portraits of people — can seem animated or they can just recline listlessly on the page. In photography serendipity always operates, but functions most fluidly in a skilled observer; on this winter morning finding such a vigorous wind-sculpted tree felt like one of those fortunate […]
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The Two Most Difficult Subjects
Continue ReadingThe Saguaro Cactus and the Grand Canyon — each is an intimidating subject. They are emblems of the Arizona territory, represented copiously in diverse media: oil paintings, photographs, refrigerator magnets and t-shirts to mention just a few examples. The saguaro grows only here; the grandest canyon on earth by the logic of superlatives exists […]
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Shaking Sand From Her Shoe
Continue ReadingAn Egyptian girl perches on a ledge along the Coast Road and shakes sand from one of her shoes, her exposed head still wet from bathing in the Mediterranean Sea. Soon her conspicuous hair and skin will become unacceptable; casual innocent moments like this will be forbidden in public. It could signal a reputation-destroying […]
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The Force of Icons
Continue ReadingThey are impossible to resist. You try your hand at crafting an image despite tens of thousands who have come before you — tourists and professional photographers who made their own attempts with sporadic success. One cannot take the same photograph twice. You are encouraged and motivated by that; moreover, when standing before these […]




