View allAll Photos Tagged Introspective
destinations
soon after i moved in
new neighbours moved in too
about a hundred and twenty lambs in the field next door
they were like me
looking everywhere
but
lacking my years of introspective training
they
were not expecting the unexpected
any sudden noise or passing car
sent them hurtlesurfing up the hill
a single empty-minded wave of white
then
just as suddenly
(threat forgotten)
the breaker dissipated
leaving strands of light across the heather
curiosity returned
(i spent a hurried half hour plaiting pine branches into the fence
to deter ovine trespassers)
life settled down
the day was all over
baa
the shouting
they
and
i
watched the sun set over macleods tables*
i was up at six
loving the dawn spreading over a new landscape
watching patches of alternating sun and shadow
scud across the glen
occasionally
a ruminating neighbour would look up
looks like we’ve fallen on our communal feet guys
graze elegy man
this place takes some bleating
i watched all this
(smiling at their puns)
then
likes cracks across a green mirror
the flock fragmented again
a large ominous truck pulled up by the pens at the gate
three men and three dogs appeared
the latter loped across the field
effortless in speeding curves
that were much more than running
they took up their positions
froze
lay flat
then darted like canine electricity
to cut off stragglers
and guide them all towards the edge
a little give
a little take
some fancy footwork
jive and hootchy coo
but the lambs were lost in more than music
dogs held the floor
before i’d even finished my coffee
the lorry was loaded
three floors of woolly puzzlement
looking out like pensioners on a coach trip
as they drove off up the lane
me
i had a second breakfast
taking a while to chew over my marmalade and metaphor
…………………………….
*flat-topped hills near dunvegan on the isle of skye
this young lady was preparing for her dance....what a lucky capture....i really like how the tepee frames her....and the eagle inked onto the canvas is stunning....wow....love the colors...love the introspective look of this young lady
Cunit, Tarragona (Spain).
ENGLISH
I've been tagged (several people simultaneously, it is stranger, Bruane, La Vieja Sirena and Karol@), and now I must explain 16 things about me. I have never stopped to define myself. I have always thought that this work has to carry out the people who know me, to be they those define and catalogue to me, and for those that do not know me personally, I believe that they can obtain enough from me while watching my photographies.
After a deep introspective analysis that took me 2 days, this is what I have found:
1.- I do not conceive a world without paella nor beer.
2.- When I stopped smoking I realized that I was able to obtain any thing.
3.- If I were rich I would buy an island with a lighthouse in the north of Scotland, or a castle in the Scottish Highlands... What the hell! The two things, that for that I am rich.
4.- I do not support the violence in any of its variants. It is not justifiable.
5.- I am untidy, but I do not support to see a crooked picture or a clock without the exact hour.
6.- I like to have the planned things, although I make hasty decisions usually.
7.- I love to cheer the life to those that surround to me.
8.- I am bad-tempered, although it costs to me to lose my cool.
9.- I do not like to arrive behind schedule at the appointments.
10.- I love to drive, and mainly to discover new places. I like to travel my own way.
11.- I am a perfectionist. Everything what I do, surely that can be done better.
12.- I enjoy learning. I want to know everything, why the things are as they are, and for what.
13.- I don't like my face and I am not photogenic. For that reason I do not appear in photos.
14.- In the school I did not like history, but now it fascinates to me.
15.- I have much patience, but sometimes I am impatient myself.
16.- I am contradictory and sometimes unforseeable, but at heart more simpler than the mechanism of a thumbtack.
It thought that it was more difficult to find 16 things about me, but I began to throw the thread and in the end even I remained short. Now I must tag another 16 of my contacts. Will be you?
More info: know me.
--------------------------
CASTELLANO
Me han pillado (varias personas a la vez, es curioso, Bruane, La Vieja Sirena y Karol@), y ahora tengo que explicar 16 cosas sobre mí. Nunca me he parado a definirme a mí mismo. Siempre he pensado que esta labor la tienen que llevar a cabo las personas que me conocen, ser ellas las que me definan y me cataloguen, y los que no me conocen personalmente, creo que pueden sacar bastante de mí mirando mis fotografías.
Después de un profundo análisis introspectivo que me ha llevado 2 días, esto es lo que he encontrado:
1.- No concibo un mundo sin paella ni cerveza.
2.- Cuando dejé de fumar me dí cuenta que era capaz de conseguir cualquier cosa.
3.- Si fuera rico me compraría una isla con un faro al norte de Escocia, o un castillo en las Highlands escocesas... ¡Qué demonios! Las dos cosas, que para eso soy rico.
4.- No soporto la violencia en ninguna de sus variantes. No es justificable.
5.- Soy desordenado, pero no soporto ver un cuadro torcido o un reloj sin la hora exacta.
6.- Me gusta tener las cosas planificadas, aunque suelo tomar decisiones precipitadas.
7.- Me encanta alegrar la vida a los que me rodean.
8.- Tengo muy mal genio, aunque me cuesta perder los estribos.
9.- No me gusta llegar tarde a las citas.
10.- Me encanta conducir, y sobre todo descubrir nuevos lugares. Me gusta viajar a mi aire.
11.- Soy un perfeccionista. Todo lo que hago, seguro que se puede hacer mejor.
12.- Disfruto aprendiendo. Quiero saberlo todo, por qué las cosas son como son, y para qué.
13.- No me gusta mi cara y no soy nada fotogénico. Por eso no salgo en fotos.
14.- En el colegio no me gustaba la historia, pero ahora me fascina.
15.- Tengo mucha paciencia, pero a veces me impaciento.
16.- Soy contradictorio y en ocasiones imprevisible, pero en el fondo más sencillo que el mecanismo de una chincheta.
Pensaba que me iba a costar más encontrar 16 cosas acerca de mí, pero empecé a tirar del hilo y al final hasta me quedé corto. Ahora tengo que pillar a 16 de mis contactos. ¿Serás tú?
Más info: conóceme.
Alexis is such a stunningly beautiful woman. This is again from my archives from my first shoot with her in the summer of 2012. I am totally in love with her expression here - it is so enigmatic and it strikes me as leaning heavily towards the sexy side. But it's meaning is open and you can interpret it as you will. You can see more of her many moods and expressions in my set "Alexis". Best in lightbox. Canon 5D Mark ii taken in Hopeland Gardens Aiken South Carolina.
Delight in the enchanting charm of this small dog sitting on a bed of moss, beaming at the camera with a big, joyful smile. Set against the backdrop of a serene forest, this portrait perfectly captures the dog’s happy spirit and the peaceful beauty of nature, creating a heartwarming scene that exudes warmth and tranquility.
I finally got to spend some time with the new girl! She was a Christmas present and her name is Henry. Still learning about her, but so far I know she likes Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, milk and cookies and she is 13 years old. She sat right down at the desk to write her New Year's resolutions. She is much more introspective than I thought she would be.
FGR goes introspective today. Thirteen things to know about me. Yes, it's a long list. No, I don't really expect you to read it.
1: Disenfranchised - I have come to hate political parties. And lobbies. And unions. Anything that represents solely their own interests. I'm okay that you & I can be of completely opposite beliefs. In fact, I may like you even more because of it. I lean to the left on a lot of issues, but my dad taught me that there are always three sides to a story - your side, my side, and the right side.
2.Disenfranchised part deux: Religion. I no longer align myself with any particular religion. I left the church I had been an active part of for over 15 years about three years ago. Same reason as #1. If we all are moved upon by the same spirit to believe sometimes completely different things, how can you or I stand there and claim truth? I'm not anti-God or anti-religion. I just believe we all have spirits that are pointed our own way. And whatever made it that way probably got it right.
3. Respect. I can't call a woman the "B" word. Or anything like it. I get mad at T when she & her girlfriends call each other that. Same rules apply to the "N" word. Even bringing it up now bothers me, because you just said the words in your mind. Dammit.
4. Music. Proof that I have a soul. And we are connected on some paranormal level. I can listen to modern rock like Chevelle, Three Days Grace, or Seether. Then I can put in John Denver, KD Lang (Hymns of the 49th parallel - amazing album), Jack Johnson. I'll listen to Rap, Hip Hop, Emo, whatever I feel will get inside me and accentuate the mood I'm in today.
5. Adventurous: One of the mantras I live by - If I mightlike something, why wouldn't I? That goes for music, food, people, activities. I try not to judge something or someone until I've tried them on for size. Not everything fits, but the more I can like, the happier I'll be.
6. Caliente: I love spicy food. I once ate a habanero that garnished a burger that was so damn hot, my mouth went numb for the rest of the night. I'd probably try it again.
7. Community: Inconsiderate people piss me off. Stealing parking spaces, keeping the change the clerk gave you even when you knew it was more than you were entitled to. We're in this together. And it comes back around.
8. English minor: I'm a grammar & spelling freak. Especially in print media, signs, or anything going to the public. It depends on the venue. I wish people knew that "she & I are going to the movie, but they brought the popcorn to her & me."
9. Parenting: I worry about finding the balance between pushing my kids too hard and not hard enough. I need to guide them and teach them the things I believe to be important without trying to mold them into mini-me's. Which is worse, a-hole dad yelling at the coach to put his kid in the game, or couch potato dad who doesn't really give his kids any real encouragement?
10. Long winded: I love lists. They're about the only junk e-mail I'll participate in and forward on.
11. Dreamer: I see big things. I'm not always the best at follow through. I can see a grand finish and map out a plan to get there. It's overcoming myself on a daily basis that prevents me from accomplishing more.
12. Age: I'm finally to the point where I don't feel "young" anymore physically. I believe I'm young at heart - who doesn't? But I see pictures like this and I look my age. My body doesn't heal as quickly as it used to. I had a couple injuries that kept me from running all year. It's okay, just different from where I've been, and a little hard to accept.
13. Flickr: This place has come to mean a lot to me. I signed up as a way to share pics with family members around the country. Then joined a few groups and ended up with a couple contacts. Then I started my 365 project. Then I joined FGR. I think it was Bitca who said something like, "some of you people are more real to me than some of the people I work with". I totally get that. I have some amazing friends here that I have never met - and quite likely never will. Somehow, you are in my heart though.
So there.
Rudolf Stingel conceived this exhibition especially for Palazzo Grassi. Given the utmost freedom of execution, Stingel has completely transformed the museum, filling the entire space with an oriental carpet. Moving beyond the idea of two-dimensionality that is conventionally associated with painting, the exhibition aims to subvert the usual spatial relationship between a painting and viewer.
The carpet evokes the thousand-year history of Venice, the ‘Most Serene Republic’, but also recalls the Middle-European culture so loved by the artist; for example, we are reminded of Sigmund Freud’s early twentieth-century Viennese study. This reference undoubtedly provides a key to interpreting this installation: on entering the ‘labyrinth’, an all-encompassing feeling and sensorial experience transport us towards the transcendence of the Ego, by means of its removal and its ghosts. The nearly thirty paintings exhibited suggest presences that are ‘buried’ in memory, and removed experiences that thrive again. The architectural space becomes an introspective and projective space, silent and welcoming, suitable for meditation: but Stingel’s work alters our visual and spatial perception of it, suggesting a new, rarified and suspenseful atmosphere in which the silver, white and black of the paintings stands out like so many other ‘openings’ on Venice, in an another dimension.
From the Palazzo Grassi website
in an introspective mood... but not about to stop eating icecream ;)
taking a little time out while exploring The Okinawa Summer Festival
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ryukyu/28/146/22
(all photos unretouched from raw SL images)
Introspective Reflection by Ogden Nash
I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance
Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.
(Please forgive the iPhone scan of my polaroid, I am not around my scanner these days.)
Dutch postcard by Boomerang Studycards, Amsterdam, no. P08-03, 2003. Keanu Reeves in The Matrix Reloaded (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 2003).
Keanu Reeves (1964) is a Canadian actor, producer, director and musician. Though Reeves often faced criticism for his deadpan delivery and perceived limited range as an actor, he nonetheless took on roles in a variety of genres, doing everything from introspective art-house fare to action-packed thrillers. His films include My Own Private Idaho (1991), the European drama Little Buddha (1993), Speed (1994), The Matrix (1999) and John Wick (2014).
Keanu Charles Reeves was born in 1964, in Beirut, Lebanon. His first name means ‘cool breeze over the mountains’ in Hawaiian. His father, Samuel Nowlin Reeves Jr., was a geologist of Chinese-Hawaiian heritage, and his mother, Patricia Bond (née Taylor), was a British showgirl and later a costume designer for rock stars such as Alice Cooper. Reeves's mother was working in Beirut when she met his father. Upon his parents’ split in 1966, Keanu moved with his mother and younger sister Kim Reeves to Sydney, to New York and then to Toronto. As a child, he lived with various stepfathers, including stage and film director Paul Aaron. Keanu developed an ardour for hockey, though he would eventually turn to acting. At 15, he played Mercutio in a stage production of 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Leah Posluns Theatre. Reeves dropped out of high school when he was 17. His film debut was the Canadian feature One Step Away (Robert Fortier, 1985). After a part in the teen movie Youngblood (Peter Markle, 1986), starring Rob Lowe, he obtained a green card through stepfather Paul Aaron and moved to Los Angeles. After a few minor roles, he gained attention for his performance in the dark drama River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986), which depicted how a murder affected a group of adolescents. Reeves landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated period drama Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988), starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Reeves joined the casts of Ron Howard's comedy Parenthood (1989), and Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death (1990). Unexpectedly successful was the wacky comedy Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) which followed two high school students (Reeves and Alex Winter) and their time-travelling high jinks. The success lead to a TV series and a sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Pete Hewitt, 1991). From then on, audiences often confused Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart.
In the following years, Keanu Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma. He developed an eclectic film roster that included high-budget action films like the surf thriller Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991) for which he won MTV's ‘Most Desirable Male’ award in 1992, but also lower-budget art-house films. My Own Private Idaho (1991), directed by Gus Van Sant and co-starring River Phoenix, chronicled the lives of two young hustlers living on the streets. In Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Reeves embodied the calm resolute lawyer Jonathan Harker who stumbles into the lair of Gary Oldman’s Count Dracula. In Europe, he played prince Siddharta who becomes the Buddha in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Italian-French-British drama Little Buddha (1993). His career reached a new high when he starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the hit action film Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994). It was followed by the romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds (Alfonso Arau, 1995) and the supernatural thriller Devil’s Advocate (Taylor Hackford, 1997), co-starring Al Pacino and Charlize Theron. At the close of the decade, Reeves starred in a Sci-Fi film that would become a genre game changer, The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999). Reeves played the prophetic figure Neo, slated to lead humanity to freedom from an all-consuming simulated world. Known for its innovative fight sequences, avant-garde special effects and gorgeous fashion, The Matrix was an international hit. Two sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999) and The Matrix Revolutions (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999) followed and The Matrix Reloaded was even a bigger financial blockbuster than its predecessor.
Now a major, bonafide box office star, Keanu Reeves continued to work in different genres and both in big-budget as in small independent films. He played an abusive man in the supernatural thriller The Gift (Sam Raimi, 2000), starring Cate Blanchett, a smitten doctor in the romantic comedy Something’s Gotta Give (Nancy Meyers, 2003) opposite Diane Keaton, and a Brit demon hunter in the American-German occult detective film Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005). His appearance in the animated Science Fiction thriller A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006), based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, received favourable reviews, and The Lake House (Alejandro Agresti, 2006), his romantic outing with Sandra Bullock, was a success at the box office. Reeves returned to Sci-Fi as alien Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still (Scott Derrickson, 2008), the remake of the 1951 classic. Then he played a supporting part in Rebecca Miller's The Private Life of Pippa Lee (2009), which starred Robin Wright and premiered at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival. Reeves co-founded a production company, Company Films. The company helped produce Henry's Crime (Malcolm Venville, 2010), in which Reeves also starred. The actor made his directorial debut with the Chinese-American Martial arts film Man of Tai Chi (2013), partly inspired by the life of Reeves' friend, stuntman Tiger Chen. Martial arts–based themes continued in Reeves's next feature, 47 Ronin (Carl Rinsch, 2013), about a real-life group of masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord. Variety magazine listed 47 Ronin as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013". Reeves returned as a retired hitman in the Neo-Noir action thriller John Wick (Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, 2014). The film opened to positive reviews and performed well at the box office. A sequel, titled John Wick: Chapter Two, is currently in production and is scheduled to be released in 2017. This year, he could be seen in the psychological horror film The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016) and the romantic horror-thriller Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016).
Reeves’ artistic aspirations are not limited to film. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the grunge band Dogstar, which released two albums. He later played bass for a band called Becky. Reeves is also a longtime motorcycle enthusiast. After asking designer Gard Hollinger to create a custom-built bike for him, the two went into business together with the formation of Arch Motorcycle Company LLC in 2011. Reported to be one of the more generous actors in Hollywood, Reeves helped care for his sister during her lengthy battle with leukaemia, and has supported such organisations as Stand Up To Cancer and PETA. In January 2000, Reeves's girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth eight months into her pregnancy to Ava Archer Syme-Reeves, who was stillborn. The strain put on their relationship by their grief resulted in Reeves and Syme's breakup several weeks later. In 2001, Syme died after a car accident.
Sources: Biography.com, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Beauty has certainly got her firmly in it's grasp. What a beautiful woman. You can see more of her moods and expressions in my set "Alexis". Best in lightbox. Canon 5D Mark ii taken in Hopeland Gardens Aiken South Carolina.
Seen and photographed at Anime Revolution with NJ. Vancouver Convention Centre, downtown Vancouver. August 18, 2013.
shot for Renato's challenge introspective/meditative/contemplative over at the clobal camel committee.
strobist info.
main photo: one flash to the right through 80cm umbrella, another on the left through mini softbox.
framed photo: single flash subject left, throug grid. used the umbrella from the main shot to reflect a bit of light to the dark side of my face. Both shots combined in PSE 8.
Track 16 Gallery opening receptions for:
INTROSPECTIVE:
works by Gee Vaucher
and
INTERNAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS
Curated by Anne Marie Grgich and Colin Rhodes
Saturday, April 12, from 6 to 9 P.M
Works on view from April 12 through May 3, 2008
INTROSPECTIVE:
works by Gee Vaucher
This was a very introspective week:
"the eye of the beholder" for macro mondays
"photographer's choice" for the Flickr lounge
"hobby" for looking close on friday
"my name is..." for smile on saturday (picture already taken for tomorrow)
The Flickr Lounge theme "photographer's choice"
122/365
Portfolio: stoyanovskyphoto.com
Inst: instagram.com/stoyanovskyphoto
500px: 500px.com/stoyanovskyphoto
Behance: behance.net/stoyanovskyphoto
"To tell the beauty would decrease,
To state the Spell demean,
There is a syllable-less sea
Of which it is the sign.
My will endeavors for its word
And fails, but entertains
A rapture as of legacies—
Of introspective mines."
-Emily Dickinson
Part V: The Single Hound
All Saints, Holbrook, Suffolk
The Shotley Peninsula is a pastoral scattering of gentle hamlets along high hedged lanes which thread over hills and through woodlands. Other settlements line the Orwell estuary, the full drama of the wide water and forests beyond constantly on show. The road along the northern shore is a busy one, as is the Ipswich to Manningtree road which cuts the Peninsula off from the rest of Suffolk, but otherwise this is an introspective, secretive landscape, especially on the southern side. No wonder people long to live there.
The Peninsula has only two places of any real size; broad functional Shotley itself, at the eastern tip, and Holbrook to the west, a rather more prosperous proposition. Holbrook is home to the famous Royal Hospital School, a vast 1930s neo-classical confection designed for the sons and daughters of the Navy. Its campanile tower is a landmark for miles around; you can see it from tower blocks in the centre of Ipswich. The school inhabits a large campus to the south of the village, and injects lifeblood into the local economy.
So here we still have jobs, and shops, a high school and a couple of pubs. Oh, and a pretty village church, behind a high hedge. The village is rather a suburban one; such an economy generates and thrives on traffic, and all the peninsula comes here to stock up.
At first sight, the arrangement of the church is a bit odd. This is one of the 14th Century south-east towers commonly found in the Ipswich area, and the nave to the north of it was probably contemporary with it. But a small, low south aisle was built a century later, running eastwards of it, and the effect now is of a tiny church with a huge north aisle. In fact, there is a 19th century north aisle beyond the nave, the work of Diocesan architect Richard Phipson; it has a rather awkward juxtaposition with the nave at the west end, with an angled doorway. The nave west window appears to be made of terracotta. The best feature of the exterior is the clerestory, somewhat hidden by the south aisle, but picked out beautifully in red brick.
The interior is almost entirely Victorian, again the work of Richard Phipson. Although it now has a fairly rustic and simple Low Church feel to it, which is very pleasant, a glance at the chancel shows that Phipson fitted it out for the kind of mystical, incense-led 19th Century High Church worship which he loved, and for which his St Mary le Tower in Ipswich is the crowning moment in Suffolk. Most of the fittings are now gone, but the sense of the past remains.
Holbrook church contains one major pre-Victorian survival. This is the monument to one of the arch-villains of the English Reformation. It is a huge memorial at the east end of the south aisle. Sir John Clenche is the figure above his daughter-in-law on the huge memorial in the south aisle. Clenche was High Sheriff of Suffolk, but is more famous, and more notorious, for being the judge who sentenced Saint Margaret Clitherow to death.
In 1586, Margaret Clitherow, the middle-class wife of a York butcher, was accused of treason against the state. This was a catch-all charge designed to root out Catholicism; she was told, as all martyrs of the time were, that the charges would be dropped if she renounced Catholicism, and conformed to the Anglican church. This she refused to do, and also refused to enter a plea, saying that "having made no offence, I need no trial". Failure to make a plea was a capital crime in itself, of course, and Clenche's sentence was that you shall return to the place from whence you came, and in the lower part of the prison be stripped naked, laid down upon the ground, and so much weight laid upon you as you are able to bear, and thus you shall continue for three days; the third day you shall have a sharp stone laid under your back, and your hands and feet shall be tied to posts that, more weight being laid upon you, you may be pressed to death.
Popular Catholic martyrology has it that Clitherow's only problem with her sentence was the bit about being stripped naked; the night before she was crushed, she supposedly made a shift to wear. This was not allowed her, but it was placed over the lower part of her body to preserve her modesty from the paying spectators. The final sentence was carried out on the 25th of March 1586. Brennan's Martyrs of the English Reformation recalls that a stone the size of a man's fist was placed under her back, her arms were stretched out and tied with cords provided; a door was placed upon her, and stones piled upon it by some beggars hired for the purpose. Her last words were 'Jesu have mercy upon me!' and when her chest was crushed her ribs protruded, and she was left in this postion for six hours.
The body was thrown on a dunghill on the outskirts of the city, but was rescued after six weeks by local Catholics, who found it 'free of putrefaction'. In May 1970 she was canonised as one of the martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI. There are images of her at Holy Family church in Kesgrave, a few miles off, and at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Wells in Norfolk, and the story of her martyrdom can be seen in stained glass just across the border at the church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs in Cambridge.
Ev looks a little introspective here, and she is thoughtful. She is also very confident and skilled in many areas. www.instagram.com/thefakeevelynma/
(explored)
well, here it is.
i should probably write a big long introspective discourse about this project, but i'm not really one to spill too much ;)
i have learned a few things though:
1. i can make myself do something that (at the time) i don't feel like doing. and after i've gotten it done, it feels great! there were many days where i just didn't feel like taking my photo, but after it was uploaded, i felt a strong sense of satisfaction. yay me!
2. there are REALLY nice people in the world. i've forged some friendships here on flickr that have enriched my life and inspired me. and even the comments/favorites from random strangers have meant so much to me and kept me going (provided they weren't creepy. those got deleted).
3. or course i've learned things about my camera that i didn't know, along with post-processing techniques and such. my camera and i are besties now, having spent so much time together :)
um.. i guess that's all.
i want to give a HUGE thank you to my followers, friends, contacts, and family for encouraging me and giving me support. i love you all!
see ya around <3
The eye explores,
with vivid and childlike curiosity,
the much-loved and less well known places in the French capital.
The photograph uses a long-exposure technique,
and refusing the use of a solid tripod,
he walks around, discovers and experiences Paris during the same shoot,
creating introspective, expressive and dreamy images,
that describe the vibration of his exploration of the urban space.
My photography poses a constant struggle for me to remain honest with myself. Not to sound too oovy-groovy or anything, but I really think that remaining honest with myself is essential to my continued work. No, I mean, my continued play. I find myself going back and forth on how I feel about things, never really knowing what I actually believe. It's hard to explain, but I hope you might understand at least some of what I'm talking about.
I recently wrote a very long email to a friend about a part of my struggle with photography. It was a wholly cathartic experience. She has been experiencing similar struggles and she articulated her experience through a fantastic image that spoke to me and burned itself into my mind for it's beauty as well as what it represents. I thought a lot about the image and, after a week or so, I decided to write a lengthy response to her about an aspect of the photographic experience that I believe we share. This entry is an edited excerpt from that email. I've been waiting to find the right image to post this with. Since this is my first return to digital in a very long time, and since it has a slightly abstract and therefore introspective feeling to it, and since there is a blob in the image that looks to me like a blurred out version of The Thinker by Rodin, I thought this might be the time to post.
I asked Gwyn for her permission before publicly sharing this email. Thanks Gwyn!
*************************
I know that this email, and the experience that I'm talking about isn't exactly what you were writing about and capturing with your shot "Not what she had in mind...", but there are certainly some parallels. I will always struggle with these issues. I'm pulled into heavy post-process photoshop work for a while, then I eschew the digital world and embrace only film. Then I go back again to the D50 and P-Shop and talk about how much I love the freedom of digital. Again, I'm not sure how to be honest with myself. I want it both ways.
But, let me add one more piece of my story for ya (if you haven't fallen asleep yet). Because in the grand scheme of the ebbs and the flows, this entire email was written at a time when I was just getting back into a flow. But this story that I'm about to share, was about a time when I hit a big ol' ebb. And it's a story that I've never attempted to write, so again, let me apologize for being so long winded.
This story started in October of '06, when my Flickr stream was all a'bustle with activity. I was posting and commenting with fury and I was totally in love with photography. I was flowing like Yosemite Falls, spewing ideas, experimenting and feeling completely energized. I was also in graduate school. In my first term, studying Social Work. My job had stagnated and I was forced to return to school to get a degree that I really didn't want in order to consider any type of career advancement. So, begrudgingly, I enlisted. Errr, enrolled. Photography was my respite from a school that I hated. I commiserated with my friends regularly about how frustrating school was for someone who had spent a decade committing to already learning the same stuff. It was worse than review, it was ridiculous. And it was massively time consuming and expensive.
This isn't about Social Work though, it's about photography. I just gotta rant every time I think about graduate school. So, I'll get back to the point. I decided to drop out. I hated it, and photography seemed like a great excuse to quit. So, I quit. Some folks tried to talk me into staying, but I decided that I wanted to seriously think about making a go of working in the field of photography. And, you know, I felt fucking great! Leaving school to pursue a dream made me feel 10 years younger. And I kept shooting with massive vigor all throughout the remainder of the term.
And at the end of December '06, I finished my finals and I was officially a grad school drop out. I planned to use my time to design a website to start something "real" with my photography. And January rolled around. I posted 2 images in the entire month. I just needed a hiatus, I guess. February, I posted a few, but not so much. March, April, I kept my stream up for a little while. I still loved it, but "something" had shifted in me. I didn't know what, but "something". "Something" pulled me away.
I didn't commit to making a career out of photography. I actually love my current job (even though the pay totally sucks), which I've kept for nearly a decade. Honestly, as soon as I dropped out of school the idea of switching careers to become a photographer rapidly dwindled. Again, I'm not so sure how to be honest with myself about these things. I had previously told inquiring friends that I wouldn't switch careers into photography because I couldn't think of a better way to ruin a wonderful thing. As soon as photography is "work", as soon as it becomes something I must do, as soon as I'm accountable to a standard other than what I set for myself, I loose interest. I've done this before in life, spoiling something fun with the idea of making it my career. I can't blur the lines between vacation and vocation. I get mixed up too easily.
But I still didn't know what the "something" was that shifted in me. What pulled me away? Still, I don't know. I can only speculate with the understanding that I reserve the right to be completely wrong. I also reserve the right to think that it doesn't really matter. But something shifted and it's in my inquisitive nature to ponder that, I guess. By the time May rolled around, I had already pulled the film out of my camera. I didn't post a single image for months. And, strangely, I was completely at ease about this. I realized that I didn't want to go pro at all. Hell, the majority of my favorite images that I've shot have hardly garnished any attention. It's the one's that are flashy that get the comments. I like simple more than flashy. And the juxtaposition between images that, at least in my eyes, cried out for a chance to be seen by others versus the images I thought I might like to give to a friend on a birthday grew more and more apparent. I love playing with pictures and I still do it. Again, I don't know what is honest. But I do know that I didn't want to go pro. I didn't even want to post.
Looking back on it, I think that photography became something very cathartic for me for a time. I was doing something that I didn't want to be doing. Photography is, and always will be, something that I cherish. So, even though I didn't really get it at the time, it was easier for me to say "I want to be a photographer" than it was for me to say, "I hate what I'm doing." Photography gave me an out. And having an out made me want to take as many pictures as I could. Incidentally, and quite by accident, photography gave me a reason to reconsider what I was trying to accomplish with my life. I paused and reviewed my game plan. And I haven't spent fifteen seconds regretting my decision to drop out of grad school. Photography, at that cathartic moment, wasn't about photography, it was about grad school. It was about making a choice, in the words of Joseph Campbell, to "follow my bliss." Bliss, at the time, didn't mean becoming a professional photographer, even though I needed to temporarily believe that it did. It meant that I didn't want to settle for a professional and academic move that was, at it's heart, untrue to my hopes.
Once at peace with my decision, I quit shooting for a very long time. Everything that I've previously written about taking the film out of my camera for about a year was true. I did that. I was motivated to do that by my sense that I wanted to reconnect with the reasons I started shooting to begin with. And, at the same time that I was going through that, everything about the "something" that pulled me away that I'm talking about here, well, all of that was true too. Again, I don't know how to be honest with myself about all of this. It constantly evolves.
But I think that I'm slowly working my way to a point. Still, I'm unsure what the point is, and less sure how to articulate it, so I hope that this makes some semblance of sense. The point is, photography adopted an unexpected function within the larger context of my life. Looking back, I think this function was a very, very good thing that ultimately helped to keep me on track and not make a major, regrettable decision. I don't know what my calling in life is, nor do I think there even is such a thing. I don't even know how to be honest with myself half the time (which is totally a good thing too). So, while my story is my own, I think that a universal "something" is buried within it. There are things that I don't even realize I'm getting from the things that I love to do (photography, being a BIG one), but those things help to shape my existence. I couldn't see it at the time though. And the coolest part is that I still love to shoot. When I need to take some time away from photography, I will. Maybe that will be a year away, or five. But photography has become a part of my life that I don't think I'd ever be able to extract. Nor would I want to. Like I said, it helps to shape my existence. And, it's been a very good existence so far, I think. And this time, I know I'm being honest.
Apologies if this image upsets or challenges your sensibilities! I set out to visually described how Fibromyalgia feels to me, I can't speak for other sufferers of Fibromyalgia as I don't know how they feel but the feedback so far is on the button. There are very few artistic interpretations of the condition so I set myself the objective of creating one. I felt it had to be a naked image as the condition is invisible to everyone, and the work being naked exposes what lies beneath my normally jovial friendly self and what I and millions of sufferers of the condition are trying to cope with. Numbers of sufferers vary globally from 1.5% to 7.8% f the population but few have ever heard of it, Symptoms are chronic pain, chronic fatigue, sleep deprivation and therefore depression.
Enter the mystical woods with this evocative portrait of a dog standing among the lush ferns, looking seriously off to the side. The dog’s intent gaze and the rich greenery create a moody atmosphere, perfectly capturing the timeless allure of the forest. This scene is ideal for those who appreciate the connection between dogs and their natural surroundings.
Amsterdam, last Friday, old man on the street, hours and hours staring just in front of him, not one single goal left, only a 1000 memories
This long-necked woman has an introspective look about her. No, that's not the best way to describe her appearance. She does not look happy. The 20th Century European woman is not quite melancholic either. I'd say she looks horrified. Shocked. Yes, that's the word.
Did modernity push, pull, and stretch her beyond her limits? There is a fallen German eagle in the other room that makes me think: Did she lose a husband in the first World War? A son in the Second? How tough was life in the modern world? I'd like to think it was better. I'd like to comfort her by telling her that she came out of it the better. But her expression says different. I think she's still in the midst of all that.
Artist: Alberto Giacometti (Swiss, 1901-1966)
Title: Large Seated Woman (Grande femme assise, 1958-59)
Material: bronze statue
Venue: Milwaukee Art Gallery