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Veteran Rider In Deep Thought
Continue ReadingThe man’s expression both puzzles and captivates me; his manner has undercurrents and appears to lack consistency. The jockey’s mouth shows resignation, blended with what might be an incipient smile, all unrelated I think to the coming horse race. (His mind appears occupied with more personal matters.) His head tilts down yet he has the […]
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Approaching Arabic
Continue ReadingKnowledge of Arabic opens a civilization stretching thirteen thousand kilometers wide — from Morocco eastward to Indonesia. In that vast territory not everyone speaks with the Arab tongue in daily life, yet most build their spiritual life upon the Koran, delivered to the Messenger of God Mohamed by visionary experience in the idiom of the […]
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Taking The Easy Shot
Continue ReadingOn occasion effortless images become my favorites. I call this shot easy because photographing children in poor countries creates only modest challenges. The youngsters lack suspicion; they might feel important owing to a stranger’s interest in them, so they press forward naively rather than drawing back from the lens. The difficult task for the camera […]
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Something Gets Under Your Skin
Continue Reading“Sometimes it is impossible to say why and how a work of art achieves its effect. I can stand in front of a painting and become filled with emotions and thoughts, evidently transmitted by the painting, and yet is impossible to trace those emotions and thoughts back to it and say, for example, that the […]
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An Atypical Commonplace
Continue ReadingSunsets are common and a bit tired. Nevertheless they are irresistible at times and will surprise you. This one has something aerodynamic and singular happening in the sky — the land seems to address the atmosphere and from the air an echo responds. After sundown in deserts a crescendo often manifests; however the shape of […]
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Americana Favorites: Two Ladies In A Green Truck
Continue ReadingThe women perform matching smiles, broad and almost natural, full of bright teeth. Attached to their vintage American truck, we find a spare tire looking as if freshly lifted off the Firestone rack; the rubber is pristine, soaked recently in shine oil. Notice the burnished-until-golden door handle. I cannot say for sure whether the youngster […]
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American Iconography
Continue ReadingRugged and broad-shouldered, luxuriously bewhiskered, even when weighed on a scale opposite Moses of the Bible and the Prophets. Masculine and virile, he would thrive on the 18th century frontier among wilderness hunters and pathfinders — a raw and sometimes brutal life of hard labor — chopping trees, cutting trails, living by the rifle and […]
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What Is The Principle Here?
Continue ReadingAn American in poor physical condition struggles toward the end of a marathon run in humid weather. His face appears to show utter exhaustion and a gasping for breath. He acted we presume by choice — but according to what principle of motivation?
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Culture Wars, 1963-Style
Continue ReadingI have a modest collection of ephemera from different periods in recent history. This piece I got from material collected by the Warren Commission after the assassination of President Kennedy. The handbill was circulating in Texas, attached to telephone poles and other vertical surfaces in Dallas prior to November 22, 1963. As you can see, […]
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Imaging Layers of History
Continue ReadingI show one entrance to a ruined basilica named after John the Apostle, resting on Ayasuluk Hill in the modern nation of Turkey. I stylized this image hoping to reach a more transcendent meaning. A more primitive place of worship preceded this brick and stone construction. The former church was also dedicated to the The […]
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