• Pleasure From Low Relief

    [The photograph above simulates bas-relief; it was edited and enhanced by digital means.] Often I cannot explain when asked: Why do you like that? For example: Why do I esteem art in low-relief? It’s hard to give reasons why I like it so much. A cynical person might want to know what else captivates us […]

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    June 19, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • From the Ghost Collection — A North American Frontiersman

    He is Pre-American (before nationhood) therefore a stateless subject of the English King. His buckskin — and the improvised uniform lacking insignia — give him away. Beyond the determination evident in the way he holds his mouth, our subject gives us only enigmatical indications of his present state of mind. He has dropped in from […]

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    June 12, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • Not Your Usual Travel Photograph

    The illusion of a flat — developed, yet seemingly endless space — reminds us of the Great Plains or the Great Salt Lake Desert, and not anyplace in California at first glance. Nevertheless there are expansive valleys with flat bottoms here, desert playas, and industrial agriculture on a sprawling scale. Not your typical vacation photograph, […]

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    June 12, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • Remembering A Fire-Eating Clown

    From early in the 21st Century comes a fire-swallower, an agile young woman shown in our first image standing on the shoulders of a male assistant. She balances then moves like a dancer on a tight-rope, performing with vigor and animation. Her hair (appropriately) is vibrant orange like the flaming torch she puts into her […]

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    June 12, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • Exploring A New Genre

    Toddler-steps at first, hoping one day to run. What is an urban landscape? In terms of artistic representation, it seems to be the urban equivalent of a naturalistic landscape, with straight lines and hard angles in more abundance, and the added complexity of human beings and their elaborate cultural forms.      

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    June 6, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • 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

  • Death of the Grinning Girl

    “None of your concern :)” The event produced excruciating sadness for this young woman’s parents, a cataclysm for any family; and because of its shocking and mystifying story-line, it is impossible for the rest of us to comprehend with rational thought why it happened. In a verdant setting at an inward curve of the Washington […]

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    May 9, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • Entertainment By Surprise

    Today I experienced an unexpected all-morning pleasure. Two verdins — who are rare chickadees, desert-dwelling insectivores as tiny as hummingbirds and just as prone to plunging and darting, built a shelter right outside my library window to hatch their hoped-for offspring. It was most energetically and skillfully done, took six hours of continuous work by […]

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    May 7, 2022 By Redburnusa

  • Practicing Photo-Illustration

    I have heard it said: “People by instinct interpret photos literally, therefore find it hard to comprehend them any other way.” By transfiguring a photo into an illustration — the same authorities observe — the artist creates spaciousness; now the viewer’s imagination may operate in counterfactual dimensions. The portrayal below derives from a photograph and […]

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    March 22, 2022 By Redburnusa
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Latest Entries

  • Not Even An Honorable Mention
    In Aesthetics, Art Historical, Autobiographical, Technical
        I once submitted this picture to a […]
  • A Most Challenging Look
    In Cultural Anthropology, Environmental Portraiture, Street Photography
    In their frankness her eyes disconcert me. She […]
  • Why I Came Home Early
    In Autobiographical, Cultural Anthropology, Egypt, Middle East
    Assume you are a middle-aged man born and raised in […]
  • A Scene From Yesteryear
    In Americana, Cultural Anthropology, Street Photography
    In this slice of American history, relaxation — […]
  • On Visiting A Bonfire-Site
    In Art Historical, Cultural Anthropology, Pilgrimages, Reportage
     A Ruined Chapel in the California Desert   […]

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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.

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