Trying to hold onto the hope and promise of love art before we all go under...

LIFE

I'm easily entertained just watching the day, and take great joy in street scenes, family, travel, music, art, nature, naturism, and the absurd.

In a chaotic, violent, world without compassion, art acts as a balm and way to make sense of our place in the universe as an individual and a society.

One of the reasons I love Flickr is that for the most part it is a simple visual representation of the world - good and bad. And it’s a pretty civilized community, conscious of the fact that we encompass various cultures, perspectives, and beliefs. Seems for the most part people here try to understand each other and learn and grow from our shared experiences.

We are definitely living in the brave, new world, where all of our images are being collected by security surveillance and people's doorbells for profit and nefarious reasons - stripped of humanness. Perhaps naively, I think it is beneficial to celebrate who we are rather than hide, to live while we still can, even if it makes us vulnerable. And unfortunately, to put it basely, shit is getting very real very quickly.

“The most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening.” Rosa Luxemburg.

MUSIC: Bowie - Stereolab - Beatles - The Fall - Kinks - CAN - Animal Collective - Small Faces - Faust - Eno - Wire - Vampire Weekend - Goat

READING: Paul Bowles - Carson McCullers - Albert Camus - Günter Grass - Flannery O'Connor - Charles Dickens - William Faulkner

WATCHING: The Coen Brothers - Jean Cocteau - Wim Wenders - Vince Gilligan - David Simon - Carl Theodor Dreyer - Jacques Tati

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Lee Miller - Weegee - Sally Mann - Diane Arbus - Vivian Maier - Fred Herzog

MY PHOTO ROAD

I. I've been mesmerized by photography and film for as long as I have memories - one of the most distinct being when I was 6 or 7 (?) and opened my sister's Kodak Brownie Starflash and the roll of 127 film sprang out of the camera and onto the floor. I was horrified!

II. My father had - I believe - a Rolleiflex old standard, which I don't think ever had film in it or was used by the time I was on the scene, but he let me "play" with it. Somewhere along my roads I unfortunately lost that camera, but still have the Starflash on a shelf.

III. A Kodak Instamatic 100 was the next hand-me-down I used while also becoming obsessed with 8mm movies, projectors, and cameras. I dreamed of being a cinematographer and drew detailed sketches of sets and camera set ups and angles.

IV. In my early teens I purchased my first "real" camera - a Pentax K-1000. The K-1000 felt instinctive and simplistic - probably my all time favorite camera.

V. Then came digital, and of course greater accessibility. But I feel out of touch with today's cameras and their endless settings, which is why I have turned to the ubiquitous iPhone for ease of everyday life. But I miss that Pentax K-1000, so I purchased a FujiFilm X T-30iii. We'll see where that leads.

I've never had a cohesive style - I just like framing stuff.

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And now as Flickr dictates, a word about nudity and naturism.

I hesitate to include nudes in my feed, since people have a very complicated and complex relationship with bodies. Including nudes seems to instantly degrade a feed and the Flickr experience.

But naturism is an important part of my life. To step out of your clothes and into a forest allows one to step out of the day to day and connect with your environment and yourself - to simply exist. In other words it can be very spiritual.

Nakedness is so much more than just sex and bathing.

So be advised there might be non-sexual nudity on my feed. if the naked human body offends you or you are under age to view such content, please move on.

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VOYEURS...

Yes, we are sexual beings and sex is glorious, but there are infinite sites on the inter-webs for getting your fix. If your account is blank, devoid of artistic intent, and it becomes obvious that is your only reason for engaging with my photos is for predatory, voyeuristic reasons I will block your account.

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I really don't get AI generated images on Flickr, and do not use AI to generate any of my images.

All photographs are my property. My images may not be used on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.

© All rights reserved.

Appreciate the good. Celebrate. Respect and Do No Harm.

Breath and live.