Spiral staircase in the tower at the Lighthouse Building in Glasgow

From Wikipedia -

The Lighthouse in Glasgow is Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture. It was opened as part of Glasgow's status as UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999.

The Lighthouse is the renamed conversion of the former offices of the Glasgow Herald newspaper. Completed in 1895, it was designed by the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh.[1] The centre's vision is to develop the links between design, architecture, and the creative industries, seeing these as interconnected social, educational, economic and cultural issues of concern to everyone.

Ngwe Saung beach is situated near Yangon city and it can be reached within a 5-hour drive from Yangon. The beach itself is approximately 9 miles long and one of the longest beach in South East Asia and newly opened beach in Ayeyarwaddy delta region interconnected with the Andaman Sea. Moreover, Ngwe Saung is located a bit south of Ngapali which is also another popular beach resorts in Myanmar.

Ngwe Saung beach is situated near Yangon city and it can be reached within a 5-hour drive from Yangon. The beach itself is approximately 9 miles long and one of the longest beach in South East Asia and newly opened beach in Ayeyarwaddy delta region interconnected with the Andaman Sea. Moreover, Ngwe Saung is located a bit south of Ngapali which is also another popular beach resorts in Myanmar.

Wes Skiles Peacock Spring State Park, southwest of Live Oak, FL, is most widely known for its vast collection of interconnected underwater caves which attract cave divers worldwide to this obscure Florida gem. Apart from being an underwater destination, its a location of supreme and tranquil beauty that maintains an almost prehistoric character in the colder months. While swimming is allowed, there are springs (nearby too) which provide a better swimming experience. This spring is all about stepping back in time and seeing something truly wild.

Manufacturer: Citroën S.A., Groupe PSA Peugeot Citroën, Saint-Ouen - France

Type: Ami 6 Break Commercial AMB AM2B 3CV

Production time: August 1964 - September 1969

Production outlet: 551,880

Engine: 602cc, M4 flat-twin boxer, air cooled

Power: 24 bhp / 4.750 rpm

Torque: 40 Nm / 3.000 rpm

Drivetrain: front wheels

Speed: 105 km/h

Curb weight: 719 kg

Wheelbase: 94.5 inch

Chassis: dual H-frame platform chassis and aircraft-style tube framework with unitized (bolted) steel body

Steering: rack & pinion

Gearbox: four-speed manual / II, III and IV synchronized / dashboard umbrella stick shift

Clutch: single dry plate disc (centrifugal)

Carburettor: Solex 30PBI 1-barrel

Fuel tank: 25 liter

Electric system: 6 Volts 45/50 Ah (12 Volts 30 Ah from June 1966)

Ignition system: battery ignition without distributor (“wasted spark ignition system”, a coil that fired the spark plugs)

Brakes front: 8.66 inch hydraulic Lockheed inboard drums

Brakes rear: 8.66 inch hydraulic Lockheed drums

Suspension front: independent leading arm with interconnected longitudinal coil springs, transverse cross member (not an anti-roll bar) and friction dampers (frotteur) + inertia shock absorbers (by Boge)

Suspension rear: independent swinging trailing arm, tie rods with transversal coil springs, friction dampers (frotteur) and suspension cylinders at the side + inertia shock absorbers (by Boge)

Rear axle: independent swing type

Differential: spiral-toothed final drive 3.625:1

Wheels: 15 inch 3 stud steel wheels

Tires: 135 - 380 Michelin Pilote

Options: centrifugal “Trafficlutch”, “Radioën” transistor radio

Special:

- The Ami Series (Project "M" for “Milieu de Gamme” or “middle class car”) was designed by the Italian Flaminio Bertoni (designed also the TPV ("Très Petite Voiture" (the later 2CV), the Traction Avant and the "DS"), and re-designed the Ami Break Series, just before he died in 1964.

- The flat-twin air-cooled engine was designed by Walter Becchia, while the ingenious suspension was designed by Marcel Chinon (independent suspension with longitudinal (front) and transversal (rear) swing arms, connection of the front and rear elements by horizontal coil springs => composite spring suspension).

- The engine did not even include a distributor; instead, there was a coil that fired the spark plugs and only speed-controlled ignition timing: the “wasted spark ignition system”.

- The cenrtifugal clutch (“Trafficlutch”) is designed for city use. You can drive off in 1st or 2nd gear. It is now driving like an automatic.

- Especially for buyers who couldn't appreciate that typical inward angled rear window, Citroën produced the "break".

- In French Ami 6 is pronounced as „la Missis“ ("Miss" or "das Fräulein") and built in a new factory called “Rennes-la-Janais”, in Chartres-de-Bretagne - France, opened in 1961.

- It became a hit and they were sold more than the "Berline", so when the "Berline" production stopped in 1969, the "Break" was still two years produced.

- An interesting detail is that the AMI Break is the first production car equipped with rectangular (not round) headlights and It was available from model year 1968. The "Berline" with similar equipment came later in production.

- There have been two Van variants of this Break: the Service Toleé (2-door no side windows) and the Service Vitrée (2-door with side windows).

Streets of Dhaka city are full of extraordinary scenes. This is for sure one of them. An all white "black" bengal goat, a kid, and an irritated dude in a single frame - interconnected. The strangest part is, if I didn't have the opportunity to visit a few other cities around the world, I would classify this as just another scene in MY city.

Banasree, Dhaka,

Bangladesh.

Coral Reefs (récifs coralliens) :

Le Florida Reef Tract est la troisième plus grande barrière de corail du monde, s'étendant sur 360 miles le long de la côte sud-est de la Floride. De nombreux facteurs de stress entraînent le déclin de ce récif, notamment des conditions d'eau de plus en plus chaudes et acides, la mort d'espèces symbiotiques clés et la maladie de perte de tissus coralliens pierreux (SCTLD). Bien que la cause du SCTLD soit encore inconnue, il s'étend maintenant sur presque tout le récif et a touché 22 espèces de coraux durs, dont beaucoup souffrent d'une mortalité complète. Afin de sauver le Florida Reef Tract, des actions immédiates, multidimensionnelles et innovantes doivent être mises en œuvre. Le programme de conservation des coraux de l’aquarium de Floride s’attaque efficacement à la crise des coraux en concentrant ses efforts sur plusieurs stratégies interconnectées conçues pour: protéger les espèces qui approchent ou sont menacées d’extinction dans la nature; augmenter les taux de reproduction des coraux, faire progresser la santé des coraux et restaurer le Florida Reef Tract. L'Aquarium de Floride en 2019, a pu induire la ponte de plusieurs espèces de corail atlantique en laboratoire ! Ces avancées révolutionnaires, mondialement reconnues, facilitent la capacité à accroître la diversité génétique de la progéniture corallienne, à mener des recherches vitales sur la santé pour améliorer les techniques de soins et d'élevage des coraux et donc à augmenter les taux de propagation des coraux.

Coral Reefs - The Florida Aquarium :

The Florida Reef Tract is the third largest barrier reef in the world, stretching 360 miles along the southeast coast of Florida. Many stressors are causing the reef to decline, including increasingly hot and acidic water conditions, the death of key symbiotic species, and stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). Although the cause of SCTLD is still unknown, it now spans almost the entire reef and has affected 22 species of hard coral, many of which suffer complete mortality. In order to save the Florida Reef Tract, immediate, multidimensional and innovative actions must be implemented. The Florida aquarium coral conservation program is effectively addressing the coral crisis by focusing its efforts on several interconnected strategies designed to: protect species that are approaching or threatened with extinction in the wild; increase coral reproduction rates, advance coral health and restore the Florida Reef Tract. The Florida Aquarium in 2019 was able to induce the laying of several species of Atlantic coral in the laboratory! These revolutionary advances, recognized worldwide, facilitate the ability to increase the genetic diversity of coral offspring, to conduct vital health research to improve techniques for caring for and growing corals, and therefore increasing the rates of spread of corals.

Three photos of bedrooms at Packwood, all of them tester beds with curtains which would have been essential to keep the draughts out in the past, as well as preserving some privacy, although at Packwood each of the bedchambers is off the corridor rather than in an interconnected row as they were in medieval times. This bed and its furniture are later, 17th or even 18th century.

Abel Tasman National Park, on the northernmost coast of New Zealand's south island, incorporates a series of interconnected coastal beach and forest trails that lead to eco-lodges within the park, making it possible to do hiking or kayaking multi-day trips. There is no motor vehicle access inside Abel Tasman. You have to take a boat to start the excursion.

I went up this when we were in New York a couple of weeks ago.. All steps - no public lift!!

The top most level was closed unfortunately!

Explore#453

VESSEL IS DESIGNED TO BE EXPLORED INSIDE AND OUT.

Vessel features a network of interconnected staircases and platforms, allowing visitors to climb and gain unique perspectives of the city from various heights and angles.

Its shimmering exterior combines bronze-colored stainless steel and glass, reflecting light and the environment.

The open design lets natural light filter through, creating dynamic patterns of light and shadow throughout the day

www.vesselnyc.com/discover#

I watched this fellow for a while, mostly because he was making a fairly loud racket. Indeed, I thought the police were going to have some words with him when they pulled up in their car. But the two ignored each other, and the police car quickly zoomed off somewhere else.

It turned out that the man was waiting for the M104 bus to arrive; the Verizon sign that you see on the left side of the picture is actually part of the "wall" of a bus-stop shelter. The bus eventually arrived, and the man got on the bus, and that was the end of this little mini-drama.

I watched carefully on each of the 14 days I spent at the Earth Cafe, and never saw the man again. With his bushy beard, it would be hard to miss him ... but it just demonstrates that some patterns do not repeat.

**********************

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here and here.)

In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”

Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …

On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.

But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …

But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.

But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.

And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.

With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:

1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).

2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…

3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.

4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.

But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves

5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.

César Manrique Foundation is headquartered in a spectacular dwelling designed by César Manrique himself upon his return from New York City, when he decided to locate permanently at Lanzarote. This was his home for the 20 years running from 1968 to 1988, the longest he ever lived in a single place. It is sited in the midst of a lava coulee formed during the violent eruptions that rocked the island between 1730 and 1736. This 3 000 square metre building engages in constant dialogue with the natural surrounds on its 30 000-square metre lot and beyond: here, volcano and architecture blend in mutual respect.

The upper storey draws its inspiration from Lanzarote’s traditional architecture, enhanced with modern functional elements such as wide windows, large rooms and overhead lighting.

The lower storey is built around five natural volcanic bubbles interconnected by tunnels excavated in the lava. They constitute a surprisingly habitable setting and an exemplary intervention in a natural space. The swimming pool, the small ballroom, the oven, the barbeque… are also open to visitors, all surrounded by abundant plant life and the island’s ubiquitous basalt. The room located just before the exit is the painter’s former studio, today converted into an exhibition hall for paintings.

The landscaping around the house plays on the fascinating contrast between the inorganic black lava, volcanic ash and “socos” (low wind screens) on the one hand and fruit trees and other plants on the other.

A Better View: B l a c k M a g i c

A view of the French Gardens after the 'renovation'

You can view the entire Flickr Collection in the Save Duke Gardens group (Flickr Hive Mind)

Note: these eleven gardens are now lost, as far as it is possible to know. The trustees have permanently closed Duke Gardens. Saying "renovated gardens will reopen" was deliberately misleading and sloppy language that concealed the truth. Some sort of garden will be at Duke Farms. Doris Duke's indoor display gardens will not.

I'm presenting my entry for the 4th challenge of Second Life Top Model, which is themed around the 7 Deadly Sins. For this challenge, I chose to focus on Lust, Vanity, and Greed, as I believe they are all interconnected. I managed to seamlessly blend these three concepts into my showcase, and the audience was captivated by my performance. I adorned my skin with gold and diamonds to showcase my character's love for wealth and luxury. The way I draped the jewels and metals on myself was truly a sight to behold, and it's no surprise that my persona craves validation. The more attention I receive, the more I shine, and my love for attention is palpable.

Hair: Foxy- Altair Blonde

Makeup: Eyeshadow: [PAIX] Chromatic Love Eyeshadow/ Gold

Lips: Opulein: Lustrous Makeup Set/ Gold

Face: XS Primal EvoX Glided Gold

Oufit: [Glitzz] Kelsey Collection/ Gold and Diamonds

Skirt: S&P Camilla Skirt/ Gold

Shoes: Pure Poison Queen Pumps/ Gold

Jewelry: ~Soedara~ Bollywood Humble/ Gold & Diamond

-PENDULUM- SOMNUS- Gold

Astralia- Queen Legs/ Gold and Diamonds

**RE** Amira Rings/ Gold and White

Zaara: Raksha arm-chain Gold

Nails: A U R U S - Glitter Bento Nails/ Gold

Brittle deformation at a high level in the crust here produced a localized pattern of interconnected fractures, with many of the rock fragments fitting together in "jigsaw" fashion; my fingers are there for scale. (A "breccia" is a rock composed of angular fragments, so breccia zones are present here; "brecciation" is a deformational process).

Fluid flowed into the open channels of the fracture network and a white mineral precipitated from solution. At upper left is a good view of the unbrecciated host rock (Marron Fm. porphyritic andesite).

The relative sizes and positions (including packing/clustering together) of the fragments in the breccia-vein zones is of interest to geologists (and those interested in interpreting physical process-product relationships). While some of the fragments fit together tightly in jigsaw patterns, within parts/branches of the white vein areas some of the smaller fragments are more loosely and irregularly packed together - these smaller pieces may have been moved around within the open fracture network, before or during fluid flow. Some of the smallest fragments might have been jostled about during fluid flow, moved downward and trapped in V-shaped areas below and next to larger fragments (look carefully in the upper-middle part of my photo).

(This rock above is tectonic breccia; sedimentary breccias are a different type of rock with very different origins.)

From my 2011-2012 study of Eocene rocks in south-central British Columbia, western Canada.

Copyright J.R. Devaney

Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls.

Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".

Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River, which begins in Kakadu. During the Dry, roughly from April to October, the Katherine Gorge waters are placid in most spots and ideal for swimming and canoeing.

There may be freshwater crocodiles in most parts of the river, as they nest along the banks, but they are harmless to humans. Saltwater crocodiles regularly enter the river during the wet season, when the water levels are very high, and are subsequently removed and returned to the lower levels at the onset of the dry season. Thus, swimming in the wet season is prohibited.

Cruises of various lengths go as far as the fifth gorge.The gorges can be explored by canoe and flat bottomed boat. In the dry season the gorges become separated as the level of the river falls. They are interconnected in the wet. There is a visitor centre located at the Katherine Gorge, about 30 km east of the town of Katherine.

Freshwater crocodiles are widely distributed along the river year-round. During the wet season, rises in water levels may allow saltwater crocodiles to enter the gorge, where they are caught and relocated to lower levels when the dry season begins.

Birds that can be seen include ospreys, red-tailed black cockatoos, great bowerbirds, white-gaped honeyeaters and red-winged parrots. Part of the Yinberrie Hills Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for endangered Gouldian finches, lies in the park

Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, (4 hours or 350 km by road) around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls.

Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".

Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River, which begins in Kakadu. During the Dry, roughly from April to October, the Katherine Gorge waters are placid in most spots and ideal for swimming and canoeing.

There may be freshwater crocodiles in most parts of the river, as they nest along the banks, but they are generally harmless to humans unless provoked. Saltwater crocodiles regularly enter the river during the wet season, when the water levels are very high, and are subsequently removed and returned to the lower levels at the onset of the dry season. Thus, swimming in the wet season is prohibited.

Cruises of various lengths go as far as the fifth gorge. The gorges can be explored by canoe and flat bottomed boat. In the dry season the gorges become separated as the level of the river falls. They are interconnected in the wet. There is a visitor centre located at the Katherine Gorge, about 30 km east of the town of Katherine.

Freshwater crocodiles are widely distributed along the river year-round. During the wet season, rises in water levels may allow saltwater crocodiles to enter the gorge, where they are caught and relocated to lower levels when the dry season begins.

Birds that can be seen include ospreys, red-tailed black cockatoos, great bowerbirds, white-gaped honeyeaters and red-winged parrots. Part of the Yinberrie Hills Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for endangered Gouldian finches, lies in the park

This man suddenly appeared on the street, and looked around as if trying to get his bearings and figure out what was going on. But he also seemed happy and confident, and looked like he was fully in charge of the situation.

He was holding a cellphone, as you can see, and he was also holding a cup of liquid in his other hand. The straw strongly suggests that he was not holding a cup of coffee or tea, or any other hot drink. But if it was just a cup of orange juice, why bother with a straw? I never did decide what was going on here ...

This man, too, seemed rather unique: I had not seen him prior to his sudden appearance on the street, and I never saw him again in the days that followed.

**********************

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here and here.)

In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”

Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …

On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.

But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …

But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.

But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.

And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.

With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:

1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).

2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…

3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.

4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.

But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves

5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.

Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, (4 hours or 350 km by road) around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls.

Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".

Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River, which begins in Kakadu. During the Dry, roughly from April to October, the Katherine Gorge waters are placid in most spots and ideal for swimming and canoeing.

There may be freshwater crocodiles in most parts of the river, as they nest along the banks, but they are generally harmless to humans unless provoked. Saltwater crocodiles regularly enter the river during the wet season, when the water levels are very high, and are subsequently removed and returned to the lower levels at the onset of the dry season. Thus, swimming in the wet season is prohibited.

Cruises of various lengths go as far as the fifth gorge. The gorges can be explored by canoe and flat bottomed boat. In the dry season the gorges become separated as the level of the river falls. They are interconnected in the wet. There is a visitor centre located at the Katherine Gorge, about 30 km east of the town of Katherine.

Freshwater crocodiles are widely distributed along the river year-round. During the wet season, rises in water levels may allow saltwater crocodiles to enter the gorge, where they are caught and relocated to lower levels when the dry season begins.

Birds that can be seen include ospreys, red-tailed black cockatoos, great bowerbirds, white-gaped honeyeaters and red-winged parrots. Part of the Yinberrie Hills Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for endangered Gouldian finches, lies in the park

The Mx 42 is stationed on Denmark's island of Seeland. Although it's just as well seen as Denmark's mainland, which exists of a few large islands as well, although they are interconnected by bridges. In the southeast of the island a few unelectrified lines are served by Lokaltog. The Mx42 is used to aid for maintenance here as well to be the thunderbird loco in this area. During a normal saturday the loco was awaiting a clear signal at Store Heddinge station. The local passenger train was due any minute to clear the tracks ahead.

New Urbanist communities, Rosemary Beach is an architectural treasure trove, boasting influences from the West Indies, New Orleans, Charleston and St. Augustine, among others.

The grand homes (many with adjoining carriage houses that are just as extraordinary) are interconnected by a discrete network of pedestrian paths and boardwalks, which become even more charming at night, basked in the soft flicker of gas-lit lanterns.

Like most Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TNDs), the best way to explore Rosemary Beach is on foot (or on a beach cruiser). Wood-plank pathways meander through the town’s striking architecture, often revealing hidden amenities such as playgrounds, bubbling fountains, tennis courts or one of the community’s several cosmopolitan swimming pools.

The main building of Nezu shrine is a honden (本殿 main hall) in the Ishi-no-ma-zukuri style, a complex Shinto shrine structure in which the haiden, or worship hall, the heiden, or offertory hall, and the honden, are all interconnected under the same roof.

The whole structure dates from 1706.

All three parts of the building (honden, haiden and heiden) are separately designated as an Important Cultural Property.[

Speicherstadt is a historic warehouse district located in Hamburg, Germany, renowned for its unique architectural style and rich maritime heritage. Built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it boasts red-brick warehouses interconnected by a network of canals. The district served as a prominent hub for the storage and trade of goods, with a particular focus on coffee, tea, spices, and carpets. Today, Speicherstadt proudly holds the title of the world's largest warehouse district and enjoys UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Early this morning, with my hair still askew, I couldn't resist the urge to visit this iconic site and capture a photograph, despite its already extensive photographic history. Although my picture may not be particularly unique or creative, the allure of Speicherstadt compelled me to document its timeless charm once more – Speicherstadt, Hamburg, Germany

M6 TTL 0.85 VF

JCH Street Pan

50mm Carl Zeiss Opton Sonnar (1952)

Amedeo CRF/M Adapter

Rodinal 1+50 20C 22:00

Yellow Filter

The Watts Towers are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, sculptural features, and mosaics within the site of the artist’s residence in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The entire site was designed and constructed by Simon Rodia, an Italian immigrant construction worker over a 33-year period from 1921 to 1954. The tallest tower is 99.5 feet (30.3 m). The towers are decorated with found objects, including bottles, ceramic tiles, seashells, figurines, mirrors, and much more. Rodia died in 1965. The Towers were designated a United States National Historic Landmark in 1990.

#classiclenses

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#50mmCarlZeissOptonSonnar

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The 2CV had to be able to carry two farmers, 50kg of potatoes and a basket of eggs across rough roads without breaking any of them at 50km/h, a goal achieved through the use of fully independent suspension interconnected front and rear.

Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, (4 hours or 350 km by road) around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls.

Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".

Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River, which begins in Kakadu. During the Dry, roughly from April to October, the Katherine Gorge waters are placid in most spots and ideal for swimming and canoeing.

There may be freshwater crocodiles in most parts of the river, as they nest along the banks, but they are generally harmless to humans unless provoked. Saltwater crocodiles regularly enter the river during the wet season, when the water levels are very high, and are subsequently removed and returned to the lower levels at the onset of the dry season. Thus, swimming in the wet season is prohibited.

Cruises of various lengths go as far as the fifth gorge. The gorges can be explored by canoe and flat bottomed boat. In the dry season the gorges become separated as the level of the river falls. They are interconnected in the wet. There is a visitor centre located at the Katherine Gorge, about 30 km east of the town of Katherine.

Freshwater crocodiles are widely distributed along the river year-round. During the wet season, rises in water levels may allow saltwater crocodiles to enter the gorge, where they are caught and relocated to lower levels when the dry season begins.

Birds that can be seen include ospreys, red-tailed black cockatoos, great bowerbirds, white-gaped honeyeaters and red-winged parrots. Part of the Yinberrie Hills Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for endangered Gouldian finches, lies in the park

The concept of this image and write-up stems from the book Between Two Ages, which was written by Zbigniew Brzezinski and published in 1970. The content of this book deals with issues from the Cold War era. Much of the information is obsolete, yet some of it can be applied to our time. He even left a few nuggets of insight into the globalist plan.

Brzezinski wondered how America would fare in its transition from the industrial age to the technetronic age (the digital age or the third industrial revolution). Currently, we are in transition between the third industrial revolution and the fourth industrial revolution. The first industrial revolution occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries and introduced mechanization and industry. The second industrial revolution took place in the late 19th and early 20th century and brought electricity and mass production. The third industrial revolution, from the mid-20th century to the present, gave us computers and the internet. We are currently entering the fourth industrial revolution. It will usher in artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, quantum computing, blockchain and digital ledgers, digital tokenization and crypto assets, virtual and mixed reality, biotechnology and transhumanism. The fourth industrial revolution will introduce a new worldwide economic system based around digital biometric IDs, central bank digital currencies, social credit scores, and carbon footprint trackers. During COVID-19, the transition of the fourth industrial revolution was referred to as the Great Reset or Build Back Better. Understand this: they cannot bring in this new system without the implementation of digital IDs!

The elitist scum don’t have the power to take over the world by force. They must seize it slowly through deception, propaganda, social engineering, and technology. Technology has both unified and fragmented society. Civilization was once separated by time and space. A person on one side of the world didn’t know what was happening on the other side. A traveler or messenger would have to travel a long way to relay distant news. Technology gave us the radio, the television, and the internet. As technology advanced, it reduced time and space between people. This sped things up. Today, we find people with similar interests online. We put less effort into local friendships that build community. We, instead, build impersonal relationships with people from around the world. We have isolated ourselves from the real world and those around us. This isolates us from our social support system, and we become lonely. A similar situation happens with nations. Nations also had a certain amount of time and space, which acted as insulators against excessive friction. This gave them room to maneuver, and it gave them the distance needed to maintain their own identity.

As people increasingly moved to the big cities, it became harder for them to make and maintain friendships. Agenda 21 of the United Nations aims to relocate individuals from rural areas to the cities. They call it sustainability. They will use endangered species as an excuse to keep or push people off the land. Aww, those poor endangered turtles and frogs! The Bundy Ranch standoff highlighted some of these things. “When the U.S. government declared the Mojave desert tortoise an endangered species in 1989, it effectively marked the cattle ranchers of Nevada’s Clark County for extinction. Rancher Cliven Bundy once had neighbors on the range: when the tortoise was listed, there were about 50 cattle-ranching families in the county. Some of them fought court battles to stay, rejecting the idea their cattle posed a danger to the tortoises. But, one by one, they slowly gave up and disappeared. Clark County is not an isolated case. Disputes over land rights are playing out in many Western states, especially in rural areas, where some residents and lawmakers question the legitimacy of the federal government’s claim to swathes of land.” They also want to designate more and more land as parklands and protected areas.

Previously, I posted a write-up inspired by three Canadian government documents. These documents said that climate change would eventually drive people off parts of the land, and that insurance companies would not provide insurance to anyone living in such areas. They also talked about regularly using weather manipulation. Shocker! One thing I failed to mention was their plan to give large tracts of land to the Indians. They admitted that this would cause anger, protests, and violence. British Columbia passed legislation to incorporate this United Nations declaration into law: the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. The government is now working towards giving the Indians vast plots of land. The Indians are claiming a city not far from me! This would destroy private property rights in the province. Read the communist manifesto, and you’ll see who desires to abolish private property. Decolonization! Truth and reconciliation! This is nothing new to me; I knew these things were coming many years ago. I knew they would use the Indians to drive us from the rural areas into the cities. Eventually, they will remove the Indians from the land. They are but pawns.

Agenda 21 is the 100-year plan of the United Nations to implement global governance. They must rely on public-private partnerships (governments, corporations, NGOs, and billionaires) to execute their plan. This is a form of fascism! As we speak, governments, corporations, and billionaires are swallowing up rural lands. Rural data centers, anyone? Save the environment! Climate emergency! Mismanage the forests to create wildfires. Mismanage logging to cause flooding. 15-minute smart cities are the future! How about Saudi Arabia’s megacity NEOM, which will be 170 kilometers long! NEOM will be a special economic zone—a Network state. Or what about Tri-State City, which would span across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany? Get the farmers off the land; we need to build our Tower of Babel! “The next Global superpower will be a Network state.” These megacity Network states will be part of a worldwide techno-feudal system. In the Book of Revelation, there are ten kings, just sayin’.

When one era ends and another begins, the lines get blurred. At the time, it’s hard to distinguish which era is which. This new era will shape our society culturally, psychologically, socially, and economically. It will affect all aspects of our lives. In order to bring us into this age, they will need to swap the old system with the new. The old is not compatible with the new.

AI will replace many jobs, so we must introduce Universal Basic Income. Yet, to truly solve this problem, we must merge man with AI. Transhumanism will bring about worldwide equality! These post-humans will become dependent on the new system. There will be no going back to the old system or way of life. They must deal with their loss of humanity. They must find a new sense of meaning in this brave new world. Their perceived reality will be different, yet their new sensations will be quite real.

Everyone will be completely malleable. We will tamper with their very essence. We will modify their personality, manipulate their behavior, exploit their emotions, control their reason, and guide their conscious decisions. No longer will propaganda be needed to manipulate them. “I foresee the time when we shall have the means and therefore, inevitably, the temptation to manipulate the behaviour and intellectual functioning of all the people through environmental and biochemical manipulation of the brain.” Indeed, Brzezinski mentioned using chemicals for mind control and altering the human genetic structure. He also believed that in a few decades, “they could develop a system that would seriously impair the brain performance of very large populations.” Such a society would be dominated by technocrats whose claim to power would be superior scientific knowledge. They would not hesitate to influence public behavior with the latest modern technology. They would keep society under close surveillance and control.

People’s reality has moved from a local to a global context. Brzezinski doesn’t like the term “global village,” instead, he likes the term “global city.” A village has important characteristics such as: “personal stability, interpersonal intimacy, implicitly shared values, and traditions.” A global city, on the other hand, is “a nervous, agitated, tense, and fragmented web of interdependent relations.” The interactions of the global city lack intimacy, which causes insecurity. The high-trust culture associated with village intimacy will be absent from the nervous interaction of the global city.

A global community fragments humanity. It detaches people from their traditional roots. In the past, an individual only associated with their family and village. Eventually, their reach expanded to other regions of the nation. Today, we associate with a global community. The past had greater cohesion and harmony than the global ecosystem of today. Currently, experts from around the world collaborate to solve problems. This sounds like ‘global citizens,’ from a ‘global community,’ solving ‘global problems.’ Kumbaya! Social engineering at its finest!

Mass media exploits our fragmented society, creating a highly controlled society. Cultural change will come through social engineering. People will deliberately and consciously choose to follow what they’ve been fed. According to Brzezinski, electronic devices could be used to educate children from home. This is reminiscent of COVID-19! During the next plandemic or climate lockdown, these “developments may become the handmaidens of constructive change.” Brzezinski also concluded that feminism would enhance society’s cultural growth and standards. Of course, anything that corrupts and fragments society helps the globalist agenda.

“A community of the developed nations must eventually be formed if the world is to respond effectively to the increasingly serious crisis that in different ways now threatens both the advanced world and the Third World.” They want to bring together the leaders of the developed world to discuss global problems. As you can see today, we have globalist entities like the G7 and G20. They desire to use global cooperation to string the world’s nations together, using “a variety of indirect ties.” They can then steer those nations by using various intergovernmental organizations. Of course, their crowning jewel is the United Nations. They must have interconnected cooperation—a cooperative community of nations. They want the rich nations to help the poor nations, because they don’t want the third world to revolt against the system. Foreign aid, here we come, cha-ching, cha-ching! Foreign aid is also a great tool for guiding the Third World in the desired direction.

Brzezinski said that sovereignty is fiction. He stated that they must make “intensive efforts to shape a new world monetary structure.” Cashless society, here we come! They want to build an “international structure of production and financing” for international trade. In progressive stages, they want to introduce free-trade areas. Of course, these free-trade areas (economic zones) are really megacity Network states. They want to bring in a “global taxation system.” Woohoo, a global carbon tax!

Just think! A man on a white horse brings peace to the Middle East. Then the Jews start building their new temple. Strange, a rider on a red horse then comes to take peace from the earth? The Enlightenment tradition has failed! Liberalism has failed! Democracy has failed! Free market capitalism has failed! Therefore, we’ll introduce a new authoritarian system! Stakeholder capitalism (fascism), here we come! Green economy, here we go! Fight the state, fight diversity, have your civil war, the red horseman will slaughter you with his sword. Oh, wait, what do we have here? The mother of all harlots—the world religion—rides in on the Beast with seven heads and ten horns (kings). We’ll create a one-world religion and bring spiritual unity. Hey, let’s have a ceremony for the new Jewish temple! Now, the vision of the trashumanists will come true: an AI god will be introduced. Oh, what’s this abominable idol of desolation sitting in the temple? World, here’s your new AI god! Surprise, surprise, a zealous Jew kills the antichrist at the celebration. Wow, say it ain’t so, the antichrist comes back to life! “He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s temple, proclaiming that he himself is God.” Hooray, the christ has risen! Let’s worship the antichrist and his Image. Then the Beast and the ten kings destroy the harlot (Revelation 17:16). She served her purpose; we have the true christ now! Ta-da, all people must take the Mark of the Beast-chip. Finally, the world has transitioned into the new age. It’s an age of global technocratic governance and transhumanism.

The mindset of some of these globalists and transhumanists could be used to create a sci-fi movie: The technocrats rule as kings in their Network states. They recreate mankind in their own image (trans-humans). They recreate nature (trans-nature). Eventually, the useless eaters—the peasant class—are done away with. No upgrades for you! The technocrats then fight to outlast, outwit, and outplay one another, until they destroy the earth and what’s left of mankind. Next, they inhabit the planets, recreating the universe (trans-universe). In the end, they fight until one is left standing. The winner is declared god!

“This new perspective involves growing recognition that man’s propensity for scientific innovation cannot be restrained—that as long as man’s mind functions, scientific innovation will be one of its expressions.” ‒ Zbigniew Brzezinski

Our world appears to be like The Truman Show: scripted and fake! I’ve stumbled upon numerous things over the years, and I hope to study them deeply. It would take a lifetime of reading. Nevertheless, I think it’s possible to find the evidence needed to answer my questions.

What if wars are planned?

What if communism was aided and abetted?

What if fascism was nurtured too?

What if protests are planned?

What if economic crashes are deliberate too?

What if the Federal Reserve is privately owned?

What if we were taken off the Gold Standard to kill the middle class and indebt us?

What if most of our politicians are puppets?

What if political parties are one big uniparty?

What if our democracy is an illusion?

What if Western Intelligence is run by outside interests?

What if the CIA assassinates American Presidents?

What if the CIA assassinates people like Charlie Kirk too?

What if the CIA is behind the mainstream news?

What if the CIA is behind Hollywood too?

What if the CIA is behind the music industry?

What if the CIA is behind the drug epidemic? What if they want sex, drugs, and debauchery too?

What if the CIA is behind the drug cartels?

What if the CIA is behind the Mafias?

What if the CIA is behind the gangs?

What if the CIA is behind domestic terrorist attacks? What about 9/11 too?

What if the CIA is behind many of the international terrorist groups?

What if the CIA is behind many of the mass shootings?

What if the CIA is behind many of the serial killers?

What if the CIA uses brainwashing and mind control?

What if the CIA was behind the feminist movement?

What if the CIA was behind playboy and Hugh Hefner?

What if the CIA was behind Hustler and Larry Flynt?

What if the CIA was behind Jeffrey Epstein?

What if the CIA is behind human sex trafficking?

What if the CIA is behind human trafficking?

What if the CIA is behind the porn industry?

What if Western intelligence was behind major occult figures?

What if Western intelligence was promoting the occult?

What if Western intelligence was promoting the New Age movement?

What if esoteric ideologies have shaped our thinking to accept the new world order?

What if the CIA assassinated foreign politicians and installed puppets? What if these puppets allowed the World Bank, IMF, and corporations to rape their natural resources and make them debt-slaves too?

What if the CIA is behind many of the AI companies? What if their CEOs are in bed with Trump too?

What if the Internet is a net and the World Wide Web is a web to ensnare us?

What if our education system is meant to dumb us down and indoctrinate us?

What if sex education is meant to make the youth promiscuous?

What if race and gender theory are preparing them for a transhuman society without race and gender?

What if schools are sexually grooming children?

What if the lack of discipline in schools spoils and ruins them?

What if they discourage old-school parental discipline such as spanking?

What if the welfare system is used to make people dependant?

What if the welfare system was used to break up the black family? What if abortion is used to keep their population numbers down too?

What if birth control was legalized for population control?

What if abortion was legalized for population control?

What if homosexuality was legalized for population control?

What if they made AIDS in a laboratory?

What if they weaponized cancer?

What if they weaponized Lyme disease and other diseases? What about Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Autism too?

What if antidepressants fry our brains? What if they cause suicides, killings, and mass shootings too?

What if they use frequencies, microwave technology, and 5G to harm and control us?

What if chemtrails rain down heavy metals? What if they block sunlight too?

What if plastics screw with our hormones? What if microplastics can be linked to chronic diseases too?

What if they put fluoride in the water to pacify us?

What if genetically modified foods modify us?

What if AI is meant to replace us?

What if Climate Change is a hoax?

What if green energy is a scam?

What if COVID-19 was a plandemic?

What if mRNA technology alters DNA?

What if vaccines are for population control?

What if they are trying to sterilize us? What if sterilizing agents have been found in baby products too?

What if multiculturalism is meant to replace our culture?

What if mass immigration is meant to bring down the West too?

What if work visas are meant for cheap labour?

What if modern technology is meant to rewire our brains?

What if the purpose of the United Nations is world governance?

What if they’re building a surveillance society?

What if they’re building a cashless society?

What if they’re building a transhuman society?

What if ten rulers control the world from behind the scenes? What if they’re the patriarchs of the wealthiest families in the world? What if they’re Satan’s minions too?

What if?

Revelation 17:12-13: “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the Beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the Beast.”

© all rights reserved

Please take your time... and enjoy it large on black

The Netherlands is a small country of 16 million people, but it boasts a quarter of a million competitive speedskaters, and millions more who skate for fun. What's the story? Natural ice in the Netherlands is a rare occurrence. In fact, some winters there's no natural ice at all. Maybe that explains why the Dutch love to skate outdoors. They hardly ever get the chance! But when a cold wave hits, and the interconnected maze of canals, rivers and lakes freeze over, it's a spontaneous celebration, a national holiday. Today same as last year we could ice skating on the Gouwsea. Ice skating can be done from Monnickendam to Marken and from Marken to Volendam. Infinite sea of ice is perfect for ice skating journeys. Besides ice skating Dutch also love Ice yachting. This is the sport of sailing and racing iceboats and is very popular in the Netherlands. Ice boats are racing at a speed of 100 km an hour over the ice of the Gouwsea.

Photo taken of Ice yachting on the Gouwsea at Monnickendam. A get together of ice sailors at Marken. A historical moment since crossing the Gouwsea by skates is such a rare occurrence. Crossing this Gouwzee was last possible in 2009 and 1996. Today 13 February 2010, I skate from Monnickendam - Marken - Volendam and back to Monnickendam a round-trip of 16km, such a beautiful sea of ice to enjoy. For the ice-yacht sailors it's always a race who will cross the Gouwsea first to Marken. When the first Ice-boats tested and crossed the Gouwsea the skaters will follow soon.

Op 13 februari 2010 een schaatstocht gemaakt rond de Gouwzee van Monnickendam - Volendam - Marken - Monnickendam. Een prachtige ronde van zo'n 16km met top ijs. Tot mijn verbazing was de Gouwzee helemaal dichtbevroren, dit is laatst in 2009 en 1996 gebeurd. Dus alweer een historische ijstocht gemaakt. Een groot ijsoppervlakte tussen Monnickendam en Marken met prima ijs. Een oneindig mooi gezicht op deze ijszee anno 2010. Het was genieten. Jong en oud staan op het ijs, zelfs koek en zopie is present in de haven van Monnickendam, Marken en Volendam. Ook zijn er weer ijszeilers te zien. Met spectaculaire snelheden van wel 80 tot 100 kilometer per uur razen ze over bevroren meren en plassen: ijszeilers hebben deze dagen de tijd van hun leven. In elke ijszeiler schuilt een pionier die nieuw terrein wil ontginnen. Wie steekt er als eerste over naar Marken? Wakduikers heten de onfortuinlijken die in een overmoedige bui te ver gingen en met behulp van collega's uit het wak gehaald moesten worden. Het mag de pret niet drukken. IJszeilen is een gezamenlijke gekte, een collectieve spanning die vanwege de natuurlijke elementen zo bijzonder is. Op pure windkracht zeilen over de eindeloze ijsvlakte, geruisloos en snoeihard. De ijszeilers steken altijd het eerst de Gouwzee over. Is het veilig dan kunnen de schaatsers makkelijk volgen.

157/366/2016, 1983 in a row

Taken at Tuggerah Lakes, a wetland system of three interconnected coastal lagoons, are located on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia

A farmer checking his rice terrace. As the rice plants are young, they are planted in nice rows on horizontal terraces. As they have to have flowing water around them to grow good, the terraces are all interconnected. Water starts at the top, and slowly finds it way to the terrace below, and then to next etc. etc.

Other weeds are growing between the young rice plants, so the farmer removes these by hand. He also checks if the water flow is still good, and not being blocked by leafs or other large items that could jam the flow.

@Tai O is home to the Tanka people, a community of fisher folk who’ve built their houses on stilts above the tidal flats of Lantau Island for generations. These unusual structures are interconnected, forming a tightly-knit community that literally lives on the water. Their enchanting world is a photographer's paradise.

A new manually operated drawbridge spans the narrow creek that divides the town, replacing an old-fashioned rope-drawn ‘ferry’ that operated for over 85 years.

New Haven Railroad DERS-2c class ALCO RS-3 locomotive 537 is seen in the yard at Maybrook, New York, March 1966. Originally when first delivered these RS-3 locomotives had steam generators installed because they were often used on branch line trains and also in main line commuter train service as required. You can see the engineer in his cab window. Maybrook was a very large freight yard where numerous other railroads interconnected or exchanged freight trains with the New Haven Railroad. The New Haven Railroad had a large locomotive servicing facility at this yard location.

This photo came from the Internet and the photographers name was not provided.

Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

This was a common scene ... but it's a little more complicated than you might think at first. If you look closely, there seem to be two rackets protruding from the man's backpack. They seem too big to be squash rackets, so I'm guessing that they are tennis rackets.

Which raises the obvious question: where is he going with his tennis rackets? There are outdoor tennis courts over in Central Park, but he's heading in the wrong direction: Central Park is behind where this picture was taken.

But it turns out that there are also some public (outdoor) tennis courts in Riverside Park, around 95th Street. That's only a couple blocks to the west of where this scene was photographed ... so maybe that's where he is heading.

**********************

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here and here.)

In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”

Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …

On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.

But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …

But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.

But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.

And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.

With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:

1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).

2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…

3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.

4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.

But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves

5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.

Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, (4 hours or 350 km by road) around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls.

Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".

Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River, which begins in Kakadu. During the Dry, roughly from April to October, the Katherine Gorge waters are placid in most spots and ideal for swimming and canoeing.

There can be freshwater crocodiles in most parts of the river, as they nest along the banks, but they are generally harmless to humans unless provoked. Saltwater crocodiles regularly enter the river during the wet season, when the water levels are very high, and are subsequently removed and returned to the lower levels at the onset of the dry season. Thus, swimming in the wet season is prohibited.

Cruises of various lengths go as far as the fifth gorge. The gorges can be explored by canoe and flat bottomed boat. In the dry season the gorges become separated as the level of the river falls. They are interconnected in the wet. There is a visitor centre located at the Katherine Gorge, about 30 km east of the town of Katherine.

Freshwater crocodiles are widely distributed along the river year-round. During the wet season, rises in water levels may allow saltwater crocodiles to enter the gorge, where they are caught and relocated to lower levels when the dry season begins.

Birds that can be seen include ospreys, red-tailed black cockatoos, great bowerbirds, white-gaped honeyeaters and red-winged parrots. Part of the Yinberrie Hills Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for endangered Gouldian finches, lies in the park

© all rights reserved by B℮n

Please take your time... to View it large on black

The Netherlands is a small country of 16 million people, but it boasts a quarter of a million competitive speedskaters, and millions more who skate for fun. What's the story? Natural ice in the Netherlands is a rare occurrence. In fact, some winters there's no natural ice at all. Maybe that explains why the Dutch love to skate outdoors. They hardly ever get the chance! But when a cold wave hits, and the interconnected maze of canals, rivers and lakes freeze over, it's a spontaneous celebration, a national holiday. Today same as last year we could ice skating on the Gouwsea. Ice skating can be done from Monnickendam to Marken and from Marken to Volendam. Infinite sea of ice is perfect for ice skating journeys. Besides ice skating Dutch also love Ice yachting. This is the sport of sailing and racing iceboats and is very popular in the Netherlands. Ice boats are racing at a speed of 100 km an hour over the ice of the Gouwsea.

Photo taken of Ice yachting on the Gouwsea at between Marken and Monnickendam. For the ice-yacht sailors it's always a race who will cross the Gouwsea first to Marken. Wakduikers - Ice hole divers - are the unfortunates in a reckless attempt but went too far. Here above a wakduiker is being helped by colleagues from the hole. It should not spoil the fun. Ice sailing is a collective madness, a collective special tension because of the natural elements. When the first Ice-boats tested and crossed the Gouwsea the skaters will follow soon. Today I skate from Monnickendam - Nes - Marken - Nes and back to Monnickendam a trip of 16km, such a beautiful sea of ice to enjoy.

Op 25 januari 2013 een schaatstocht gemaakt rond de Gouwzee van Monnickendam - Nes - Marken - Monnickendam. Bij Volendam lag dit keer te veel sneeuw en onbegaanbaar. Een prachtige tocht van zo'n 16km met top ijs. Tot mijn verbazing was de Gouwzee helemaal dichtbevroren. Dus alweer een historische ijstocht gemaakt. Een groot ijsoppervlakte tussen Monnickendam en Marken met prima ijs. Een oneindig mooi gezicht op deze ijszee anno 2013. Het was genieten. Jong en oud staan op het ijs, zelfs koek en zopie is present in de haven van Monnickendam. Ook zijn er weer ijszeilers te zien. Met spectaculaire snelheden van wel 80 tot 100 kilometer per uur razen ze over bevroren meren en plassen: ijszeilers hebben deze dagen de tijd van hun leven. In elke ijszeiler schuilt een pionier die nieuw terrein wil ontginnen. Wie steekt er als eerste over naar Marken? Wakduikers heten de onfortuinlijken die in een overmoedige bui te ver gingen en met behulp van collega's uit het wak gehaald moesten worden. Het mag de pret niet drukken. IJszeilen is een gezamenlijke gekte, een collectieve spanning die vanwege de natuurlijke elementen zo bijzonder is. Op pure windkracht zeilen over de eindeloze ijsvlakte, geruisloos en snoeihard. De ijszeilers steken altijd het eerst de Gouwzee over. Is het veilig dan kunnen de schaatsers makkelijk volgen.

This was another parent-child scene, with a neatly dressed little boy who looks no more than three or four years old. Many of the parents that I saw were sending their child to a school further up the street (behind where I was sitting). I'm pretty sure that it's a parochial school, which may explain the reasonably neat, semi-formal dress code seen here.

**********************

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here and here.)

In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”

Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …

On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.

But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …

But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.

But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.

And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.

With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:

1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).

2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…

3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.

4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.

But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves

5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.

View Large On Black

The Netherlands is a small country of 16 million people, but it boasts a quarter of a million competitive speedskaters, and millions more who skate for fun. What's the story? Natural ice in the Netherlands is a rare occurrence. In fact, some winters there's no natural ice at all. Maybe that explains why the Dutch love to skate outdoors. They hardly ever get the chance! But when a cold wave hits, and the interconnected maze of canals, rivers and lakes freeze over, it's a spontaneous celebration, a national holiday. Businesses close their doors and everyone goes skating. According to Richard van Ammerzoden, a skater from Rotterdam, skating in Holland originated as a poor man's sport. Isolated by mud and water in the damp winters, rural farmers prayed for ice. When it came, just like Hans Brinker, they strapped on their wooden skates with leather thongs, and traveled great distances to visit friends and relatives they hadn't seen in months. Then they skated home.

Perhaps that explains the origin of the Elfstedentocht or "Eleven Cities Tour", a 200-kilometer mega-tour in the province of Friesland known as "the mother of all skating tours." In the 1890s, some Frisian farmer with well-developed leg muscles tried to skate through all eleven cities of Friesland in a single day. He succeeded, and the rest is history.

Maybe this weekend it's possible again to skate on nature ice in Holland. This photo was taken at the Oostvaardersplassen nearby Lelystad. All inland coastal lakes were frozen, and everywhere people were skating along the reed beds. On this day the temperature was +3 degrees Celcius and during day time the ice was melting. Not too perfect for skating but the melted water was perfect to captured the reflection of the clouds. The next day it was freezing again and the Dutch Ice Skating Championship Marathon were held on these Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve. The event is taking place on natural ice for the first time in thirteen years. Huisman won the 100-kilometer race in two hours and 37 minutes.

Zo'n 1000 jaar geleden of eerder begon men te schaatsen . Toen hadden ze nog geen ijzer uit gevonden dus deden ze dat met botten van geslachte of dode dieren. Die maakten ze een beetje scherp, bonden ze met touwen onder hun voeten vast en zo kwamen ze al een beetje vooruit. Toen er ijzer uit werd gevonden waren er al vrij snel ijzeren schaatsen in plaats van schaatsen van botten. Nederland is het enige land waar zoveel mensen schaatsen. De schaats is ook in Nederland uitgevonden. Ook in Noorwegen schaatsen veel mensen maar lang niet zoveel als in Nederland. Er ligt daar meestal te veel sneeuw op het ijs. Als er twee nachten matige vorst is geweest slaat de gekte weer toe. Erwtensoep in de pot, schaatsen uit het vet en tochten maken. Helaas heeft het al jaren niet meer gevroren, weet een hele generatie niet wat natuurijs maar nu in 2009 lijkt eindelijk de weer een vorst periode aan te breken waar op natuurijs geschaatst kan worden. Vandaag 29 januari waarschuwen boswachters bij de Oostvaardersplassen mensen die het ijs op willen gaan. Schaatsers worden er weggestuurd, omdat het ijs nog niet sterk genoeg is. Misschien dit weekend?

Tonlé Sap Lake, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, Tonle Sap contains an exceptional large variety of interconnected eco-regions with a high degree of biodiversity. The area of the lake is home to many ethnic Vietnamese and numerous Cham communities, living in floating villages around the lake. Approximately 1.2 million people living in the greater Tonle Sap make their living by fishing on the local waters.

Post-processed in DxO Nik Silver Efex Pro to achieve the antique look.

Harmony. In Ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes how obviously opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.

“Deep ecology does not see the world as a collection of isolated objects but rather as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. It recognizes the intrinsic value of all living beings and views humans—in the celebrated words attributed to Chief Seattle—as just one particular strand in the web of life.”

― Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism

The Watts Towers are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, sculptural features, and mosaics within the site of the artist’s residence in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The entire site was designed and constructed by Simon Rodia, an Italian immigrant construction worker over a 33-year period from 1921 to 1954. The tallest tower is 99.5 feet (30.3 m). The towers are decorated with found objects, including bottles, ceramic tiles, seashells, figurines, mirrors, and much more. Rodia died in 1965. The Towers were designated a United States National Historic Landmark in 1990.

M6 TTL 0.58vf

JCH Street Pan

21mm SEM

Rodinal 1+50 20C 22:00

Yellow Filter

#classiclenses

#35mmfilm

#21mmSEM

#film

#filmphotography

#analog

#analogphotography

#classiclensespodcast

#photographywithclassiclenses

#bestvintagelens

#leica

#JCHStreetPan

#rodinal

#leicaM6

#negativepositives

#LeicaMag

#shootfilmbenice

#banalmag

Harbour Passage in Saint John, New Brunswick is a series of interconnected paths and walkways connecting Reversing Falls to Uptown Saint John. Much of it follows the harbour and there are many sculptures, etc. to see along the way.

Everything in a forest is interconnected and interdependent... but not everything has honourable intentions.

Just like with humans... some plants are parasites and freeloaders... relying on others to do all the work for them... and sometimes strangling them in the process.

You can now also find me on Facebook | 500px | OutdoorPhoto

This was a typical scene that I saw every day: kids and parents racing across the street. Sometimes a mother, sometimes a father.

**********************

As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent Tumblr blog postings, I’m working on an exercise for a new class that I’ve started taking at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in the fall of 2015.( You can see the earlier Tumblr postings here. and here.).

In addition to taking a bunch of photos (see the other Tumblr postings for details and descriptions of what the photos are supposed to illustrate), we also have the task of editing our images down to a maximum of 10 “presentation images” that we will share with the ICP class next week. When our instructor, Joanne Dugan, asked me last week if I anticipated having any problems with this aspect of the assignment, I shrugged and said, “No, I do this all the time …”

Well, yes and no: I do do a lot of editing/winnowing of my photos before deciding which ones should be shared with anyone else. But I had forgotten that I also do a lot of cropping, color-adjustment, tweaking, and general post-processing before I upload my photos to Flickr, Facebook, or even Instagram. For this particular ICP exercise, we were also told not to crop the photos, and not to do any post-processing. That makes things a lot more difficult …

On the other hand, part of the exercise is to assemble and share a maximum of ten photos that collectively tell a “story” of some kind – and to “tell” that story with anywhere from a word, to a sentence, to a paragraph for each of the photos. That makes things a lot easier … after all, if a photo has to be presented in isolation, then it truly stands alone. And it is intended to be viewed without any accompanying text, then it really stands alone. There’s nothing wrong with that; indeed, one might argue that that’s the whole point of photography: a picture should “tell” a story all by itself, without any extraneous verbiage to “explain” what might not be obvious to the viewer.

But not very many things exist in complete isolation of the rest of the universe, especially in today’s interconnected world. I suppose some people would debate that point quite vigorously; and some people might argue that a photograph of a person, place, or thing should be able to “stand alone” without anything else. I certainly have seen photos that fall into this category, and I suppose I’ve taken a few like that, too. Or, maybe if I never intended my photos to be considered in complete isolation from one another, perhaps that’s how some people prefer to look at them …

But for me, that’s a pretty rare phenomenon. Almost always, I find myself telling a story. The photographs obviously present one “dimension” of the story, in a visual form; and I’ve been trying to remind myself lately that videos can present can present one, and sometimes two, additional dimensions (motion and sound) that can add enormously to the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the underlying story.

But even if one uses only traditional photos, I find that it’s almost impossible for me to crate (or make, or take) one photo by itself; invariably, I take dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, which collectively tell a story. It may be a story about someplace I’ve been, or some event in which I’ve participated, or some individual (or group of individuals) that I want the viewer to know and appreciate in more detail than would be possible to communicate in a single photo.

And then there are the words … maybe it’s because I spend part of my time as a writer and teacher that I find it almost impossible not to augment my photos with words. Lots of words. Indeed, sometimes far too many words; and sometimes clumsy words, or the wrong words. And I do realize that there are times when the situation would be improved if I would just shut up, and let the photograph do all of the communication. But for better or worse, I guess I’m a photojournalist.

With that in mind, I began the process of editing the photos for my recent ICP assignment. Here’s what I found:

1. It’s not as easy as one might think, when you start with a large number. I began winnowing the original images when I had 2,700 (after 9 days of shooting), and I still had 5 days of shooting left).

2. It’s much more difficult than I had imagined, given the constraints of my ICP class: no cropping, no post-processing, and a maximum of only 10 images. I’ve worked within those constraints for the final images that I’m submitting to the ICP class; but for these Flickr uploads, I’ve ended up with 40-45 images – and they have been heavily cropped, tilted, color-corrected, noise-dusted, and tweaked in various other ways. C’est la vie…

3. Using the collection of photos to “tell a story” is both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I’m including these background notes in all of the photos that get uploaded to Flickr … because I’ve learned (form past experience) that some visitor will zoom in on just one particular photo, without necessarily looking at all of them, and/or without seeing the overall notes for the entire album. And I don’t think I’ll find it difficult to write a few sentences to provide the background details for each photo … but whether they “flow” and create one overall, coherent “story” remains to be seen.

4. Aside from a narrative “story,” there are some “themes” that I noticed throughout this entire two-week exercise. The most significant one was exactly what I had anticipated: patterns. If you are lucky enough to sit in the same spot at the same time, day after day, you see the same rhythms, the same people, the same repetitions of life’s little actions and emotions. Many people have the opportunity to see these patterns, because they do follow the same schedule, day after day, on their way to their job or their school. But some of us have irregular routines, and any, most of us don’t pay any attention. If you slow down, and pay attention, you’ll see the patterns.

But sometimes the pattern involves uniqueness – i.e. strange and unusual people or events that seem to happen only once. But I have to keep reminding myself that my visits have lasted only two weeks; if I was here for a month, or a full season, or perhaps an entire year – then perhaps I would see these strange incidents repeating themselves

5. Another theme – which I did not anticipate, but was delighted to see – was the pervasive sense of affection and caring between and among everyone on the street. Mostly it was apparent in the interactions between parents and children; but sometimes it was between dog-owners and the dogs they were walking; sometimes it was between friends who happened to be walking along together; and sometimes it was between complete strangers and me, as the strangers would smile and nod and say “hello” if they noticed I was watching them. It was a great experience.

Ngwe Saung beach is situated near Yangon city and it can be reached within a 5-hour drive from Yangon. The beach itself is approximately 9 miles long and one of the longest beach in South East Asia and newly opened beach in Ayeyarwaddy delta region interconnected with the Andaman Sea. Moreover, Ngwe Saung is located a bit south of Ngapali which is also another popular beach resorts in Myanmar.

Though, the beach itself was recently opened, due to the incredible quality of the beach, water and sand, it is getting more and more attention from tourists and becoming more popular. It is not just that the beach is good in quality but it also has incredible vistas and breathtaking view of the Bay of Bengal especially during the evening when the sun goes set.