18-NOV-2007
illuminating my past
Before I share today's rather lengthy blog entry, let me repeat yesterday's late afternoon announcement of a new gallery of photos called "Edward Hopper visits my home."
CLICK HERE to see it.
I've heard it said that each person lives primarily in the past, present or future. I am a present-liver, so much so that I'm apt to forget my own past. Photography is a good example. I've been saying to myself and anyone who would listen that my interest in photography began on July 5, 2006 when I bought my "first SLR," a Canon Rebel XT. Well, that's not exactly true. But I wasn't making it up; I'd just forgotten. In cleaning out our Fibber McGee & Molly hall closet--only the seniors among you will know to whom I'm referring--I found my old camera that I'd bought 35 years ago. Guess what? It was an SLR! I only used that trusty Konica Autoflex TC in auto mode, but it still took good quality film photos. And I used it a lot. We have boxes full of photos to prove it! We also have a few albums, two of them containing black & white prints.
The first album contains a series of images I took over four seasons starting in September 1988. I'd been diagnosed on September 8 with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis, and taking these photos seemed to ground me. Many of them were taken on solitary walks with our dog Timmy. I focused pretty much on whatever came into my line of vision, from empty tampax containers washed up on the beach to the wild deer on Detroit's Belle Isle. At the end of the summer of 1989, I was done. Looking back, I can see that taking these stark black & white images helped me look unflinchingly at my diagnosis and begin to come to terms with it. To be honest, photography was much more effective therapy than two months of visits with a psychiatrist.
The second album contains the black & white photos I took during two weeks spent in Oaxaca, Mexico. In June 1992 I chose to celebrate my 50th birthday by participating in a three-week program intended to introduce Norteamericanos to the reality of life among our sisters and brothers to the south. We started with one week of classes at Erie College in Pennsylvania. While there we learned about Mexico's history, geography, current political and social situation, arts and culture. We also focused strenuously on trying to become somewhat fluent in the Spanish language. Fifteen of us then flew to Oaxaca, while ten went to the Yucatan Penninsula. I'll never forget walking at dusk for miles from the airport carrying our bags to the house where we'd be staying. And we didn't stay down near the zocalo with the tourists either; we were in a house halfway up the mountain in a poor neighborhood. We ten women stayed in five bunk beds in one small bedroom and the five guys stayed in another room. We had to sign up for the two five-minute showers we were allowed each week, and each of us volunteered to work with the poor and/or elderly in town or up on the mountain with the kids. I bet you can guess which job I chose! I'd have to write a book to share all that I learned during those two weeks, but I can say that my heart was broken open and old assumptions came tumbling out. I was never the same again. And taking black & white photos was essential to the process. Color would have "prettified" things too much. I needed to see life as it was, not as I'd imagined it would be.
Not to be too analytical, but it seems that I turn to black & white whenever I need to see with clear eyes.
Regarding digital photography, I bought my first digital point-and-shoot camera in December 2000. For the next six years I posted hundreds of thousands of photos on
my daily blog. So even keeping a blog is not new to me.
Oh, the things we don't know about each other! Oh, the things I forget about myself...
17-NOV-2007
plugged in to PBase
Today is my one year anniversary on PBase. And now I can't imagine life without you. You've taken me places, both within myself and around the world, that I could never have gone on my own. You've taught me photographic techniques and artistry. You've opened my eyes and trained them to see things I'd never noticed before. You've inspired, supported, challenged and encouraged me as I've pursued what has become my abiding passion. You've broken down the barriers of language, geography, time zones, culture and age. You've been the presence of the global peace I'd dreamed of and worked towards for decades. You have used your cameras to transform our world. The gratitude I feel today cannot be spoken in words or captured in an image; it must be exchanged through our hearts. Thank you.
My anniversary gift to myself was to gather a dozen of my favorite photos and put them in a new gallery called "Edward Hopper visits my home."
CLICK HERE to see it.
16-NOV-2007
Empty Bowls art project
So what was your favorite art project as a kid? Was it painting with tempera paints or drawing with nice sharp pencils or coloring with crayons? Maybe you really enjoyed pasting cut-up magazine photos into creative collages. Or perhaps crafty projects like those metal potholder looms with their multicolored cotton loops were more your thing. For the students in the K-5 school where I volunteer, clay jazzes them the most. Even our most challenging students stay focused when they're working with clay. It doesn't seem to matter whether they're molding or glazing, clay days are fun for everyone.
Don't you think we grownups would do well to bring out the clay on those days when our boss gets on our case or the computer crashes and burns? Wouldn't we need fewer drinks and/or pills if we could pound on a wad of clay and create some masterpiece when things go bad? Hey, there's nothing like the earth energy of clay to ground the storm. Try it sometime; you might be surprised at how good it feels.
15-NOV-2007
autumn collage
On Wednesday, our autumn leaves swallowed their last sip of water, made their final trip to the washroom, and received their last goodnight kiss from Mother Nature. According to the weather forecast, temperatures are dropping to 1 C./33 F., cold rains are on the way, and we might even see snow by the weekend. Ah, but Wednesday outdid herself! Sunny, warm, flaming reds and shining golds everywhere you looked. It was outrageously beautiful. And I was outside for hours with my camera, madly clicking away. This collage has five of those photos layered on top of one another and blended in Photoshop. I think you might like seeing it in the original size.
Goodnight, sweet leaves. Rest well, and we'll see your colors transformed into the rich brown soil from which flowers emerge next spring.
14-NOV-2007
art of the ordinary
Many of us comment favorably on our sister and brother PBasers' photos that elevate the ordinary into the realm of art, but how many times have you seen the lowly shower thus featured? Today I want to celebrate my shower, a place where I have spent countless hours of water-inspired delight. At the end of almost every day I go to my shower to wash away the debris--both physical and emotional--that has attached itself to me in the past 24 hours. There's something so soothing about sitting under a spray of water and letting it sink into the pores of your skin. I call it my water meditation.
Are there other shower photos out there in PBase land? If so, would you please post the links here? Or maybe you'll be inspired to take one yourself. Showers are such willing subjects.
13-NOV-2007
a person of passion (composite)
How many persons do you know who live life full out, with every fiber of their being engaged, totally present to the moment? It's a real gift when such a person enters your life. Well now, I have to qualify that. For many of us, such a person of passion can be unsettling, even threatening. If there are unlived parts within ourselves, parts we've tried to ignore, seeing someone who is ALL THERE can be not only disturbing, it can make us angry...or terribly sad. Their passion will be a constant reminder of our lack of passion. Besides, it could be that their commitment to a cause--and passionate people are always committed to something beyond themselves--might step on our economic toes, or feelings of privilege and power, or unthinking ways of living on the earth. But if we are open to change, a passionate person can be the key that unlocks the door.
When
Carolyn McDade--who is pictured above--came into my life in 1993, I wept my way through almost every song we sang. At that time her most recent CD was "Sister Carry On." The song that just about did me in goes like this:
Woman to Woman
(Chorus) No woman is required to build the world
by destroying herself**
To act in fear increases fear
To act in trust increases trust
To act in delusion increases delusion
To act in truth increases truth
Chorus
To act in submission increases domination
To act with integrity increases equality
To know our anger frees our love
To free our love reveals our rage
To act in hate increases hate
To act in love increases love
To act in despair increases despair
To act in hope increases hope
Chorus
(Words by Rabbi Sofer**, 19th century, and Carolyn McDade)
Every line hammered at my unawakened woman-heart. It changed my life. As I got in touch with all that was unlived within myself, more came to light...and to life. My change in attitudes led to actions I could never have imagined. And bit by bit I became a person of passion too. I am no longer afraid to give it everything I've got, to rock the boat, to follow my own drummer. And I have passionate persons like Carolyn McDade to thank for showing me that life is meant to be an incredible adventure!
12-NOV-2007
the fall that wouldn't...
Like a child who asks for just one more trip to the washroom, one more drink of water, one more kiss before the lights go out and it's time for bed, this year's leaves don't want to fall. Here it is mid-November and there are still fully-leafed trees everywhere I look. Yes, some have turned out their lights, but many are asking to stay up just a little bit longer. I wonder when they will finally lay their heads down on the pillow and go to sleep?
11-NOV-2007
remembering
In the United States, November 11 is known as Veterans Day. In Canada, Australia and the UK, this anniversary of the signing of the armistice that marked the end of World War I, is called Remembrance Day. France has retained the original name of Armistice Day. Whatever the name, in each country November 11 is set aside to remember those members of the military forces who have lost their lives in war.
For those of us who see war as a misguided way of settling differences between nations, today has particular poignancy. We cannot salute our flags or sing our national anthems in good conscience. We cannot claim the sacrifice given by these young men and women--and all who loved them--has served to keep us safe and secure. All we can do is mourn the loss of millions and millions of individuals who were born with gifts our world needed...but never received. And the losses continue minute-by-minute across our wartorn world.
When will we ever learn? (
CLICK HERE to hear Pete Seeger's song.)
10-NOV-2007
Join Together
We must join together to bring forth
a sustainable global community founded on these principles:
Respect for nature, universal human rights
economic justice and a culture of peace.
There it is in a nutshell. If we could live these principles, imagine what our world would look like! Imagine how it would feel for each one of us--and for every species on the planet--if we could join together in this work! I am reminded of John Lennon's song,
"Imagine" where these words appear:
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Before we act, we must dream. We must DARE to dream. But dreaming is not without risk. When we dream we are opening ourselves up to the possibility of failure. If we stay numbed and without hope, yes, we protect ourselves from disappointment, but at what cost? In this case, at what cost to ourselves and all who share life with us here on this fragile planet? We must dream of a better way of existing together because it is obvious that our recent attempts are not working. Not working for us as a human community. Not working for the life forms around us. And not working for the planet itself.
But we don't have to do it by ourselves. Much of the dreaming already exists. And it is the product of minds and hearts of concerned individuals and groups across the globe who joined together to envision a world of sustainability, mutual respect, justice and peace. A world where each voice is heard and valued, even those too faint for the human ear to hear, even those that cry out in the depths of oceans polluted by human choices.
This dream is clearly expressed in The Earth Charter (
CLICK HERE to read it). And there are those in our world who are studying this dream and doing all they can to enact its principles in their lives. Among their numbers are the communities of singing women across Canada and the United States who joined together to work on the "My Heart Is Moved" CD project inspired by The Earth Charter and coordinated by the composer, spiritual feminist, social activist Carolyn McDade. When I took this photo on Friday night, one of the communities--the Gaia Women of the Great Lakes Basin--were launching their CD in Michigan. Tonight--Saturday--they will again join together to launch the "My Heart is Moved" CD in Windsor, Ontario. To read about and/or order a copy of this magnificent CD,
CLICK HERE.
Dare to dream! Our lives depend on it...
09-NOV-2007
Autumn repairs (composite)
If you live in a northern part of the world, you understand the urgent need to take care of all outside repairs before the snows fall. The woodrotted lintel above our garage door was an excellent example. Last spring we'd contracted with our carpenter Tom to replace this rotten crossbeam, but we'd heard nothing from him all summer. Now winter was knocking at the door and we could wait no longer. When Ed called last week, we were relieved to learn that Tom was finally ready to tackle this onerous job. He admitted he'd been putting it off. With good reason. On the first of two days of dawn-to-dusk work, Tom and his brother Scott had to remove the roll-up garage door and temporarily support the roof with four wooden posts. Definitely not a job for the faint of heart! They completed the job on the day that snow flurries were first seen around Detroit. Ed and I are now deeply grateful to have a structurally sound lintel, especially after hearing that the old one was sagging 3/4 of an inch (1.9 cm)! I shutter to think what might have happened to my precious wheelchair-accessible van if we'd had a winter of heavy snows and ice. But, thanks to Tom and Scott, now she's safe and sound no matter what weather comes our way.
Regarding my use of a composite photo, I am now feeling ready to reopen the door to ALL types of creative post-processing. Since discovering Phil Douglis' instructional cyberbook--
Expressive Travel Photography -- communicating with pictures early in August, I've focused almost exclusively on straight photographs that I have hoped would evoke emotional responses in the viewer. And that focus has served me well. My artist's eye has been honed in ways it never was before. Before immersing myself in Expressive Photography, I was hooked on Photoshop manipulations. From March to May 2007, I'd taken a series of classes called "Photoshop for Photographers" that was offered at a local art college. Until August I was like a madwoman playing with those tools! And now I'm ready to integrate the two.
Isn't photography a fascinating artistic medium? There are countless paths to follow, and if one keeps pushing the envelope, there might come the day when you find yourself in a place that no one has been before. It could even be that we focus on just one subject our entire career, but within that place we'll want to find new ways of doing and seeing things. If we allow ourselves to get too comfortable with the tried-and-true--even if it has met with popular acclaim--we'll be at risk of repeating ourselves ad infinitum. Creativity, like life, requires large doses of derring-do. It is definitely not for wimps!
08-NOV-2007
back on track
Funny how we can get so offbase if we don't get enough sleep. I'm sure for each of us this shows itself in unique ways. What happens with me is I begin to care too much what other people think. When I'm my true grounded self, I respect other people's opinions but listen most closely to my own, especially that inner voice that always speaks the truth.
Well, after a wonderful night's sleep, some good hard exercise at the gym, an afternoon of satisfying work on the computer, the support of you PBasers in your kind comments, a good dinner, a bracing after-dinner walk/scoot with my sweetie, and watching a DVD that had a message I needed to hear ("Four Minute Mile" about Roger Bannister), I feel myself again, ready to keep following my path and no one else's. Yes, my friends, I'm back on track again.
This photo is of the ramp that gets me and my scooter in and out of the house. It is the work of a master carpenter named Tom Sape, And is based on an inspired design by our dear friend and neighbor, Bill Mackey. It is my ramp to the world.
I've just added eight more images to my new portrait gallery.
CLICK HERE to see them. The new photos are on Page 2.
07-NOV-2007
out of sorts (composite)
I'm not going to write much tonight because what I need more than anything is to get to bed early and catch up on my sleep. But from this image you might pick up on the fact that I'm feeling rather out of sorts. I had an unpleasant encounter with someone who's always been kind to me. Until today, that is. It kind of threw me for a loop. At the same time it taught me some hard lessons about myself. Maybe this is the change that last night's sleeplessness was all about. But before I do any heavy duty introspection, I've got to get some sleep. And now off to bed...
