View allAll Photos Tagged existential
Keen followers of id-iom will know that we like to put a little write up with our pieces. Today is no exception but it appears we’ve run into a small snag. Neither of us can seemingly come up with anything suitable for today’s decidedly lovely painting. She’s a wistful looking lady gazing off stage left. That much is for sure.
It’s usually quite obvious (to us at least) what the blurb will be. But not today. It’s veered from being related to the boredom of lockdown to living in a crashed space station to shouting at your own private parts. I wish I was making it up. Now, in the fruitless search for a write up, I’ve had to go all existential and write about my inability to come up with something to write about. Meta. Take from it all what you will…
If you’d like to give her a home drop us a line etc. It is A2 on high quality Bockingford paper and made using Acrylic, paint pen, watercolour pencil and spray paint.
Cheers
id-iom
L'existentialiste ne croit pas à la puissance de la passion. Il ne pensera jamais qu'une belle passion est un torrent dévastateur qui conduit fatalement l'homme à certains actes, et qui, par conséquent, est une excuse. Il pense que l'homme est responsable de sa passion. L'existentialiste ne pensera pas non plus que l'homme peut trouver un secours dans un signe donné, sur terre, qui l'orientera ; car il pense que l'homme déchiffre lui-même le signe comme il lui plaît. Il pense donc que l'homme, sans aucun appui et sans aucun secours, est condamné à chaque instant à inventer l'homme.
Jean-Paul Sartre, L'Existentialisme est un humanisme
It is a very old trunk.
And in the end, there is no difference between it and us.
Our skin, sooner or later,
will become the same:
etched, hardened, marked.
It is not decay.
It is experience settling in.
A form of awareness no youth can yet afford.
È un tronco vecchissimo.
E alla fine non c’è alcuna differenza tra lui e noi.
La nostra pelle, prima o poi,
diventerà così:
incisa, irrigidita, segnata.
Non è decadenza.
È esperienza che si deposita.
Una consapevolezza che nessun giovane può ancora permettersi.
Photograph published in News Junkie Post on 5/30/30
newsjunkiepost.com/2020/05/30/climate-crisispandemics-and...
Photograph also published in The Duran on 5/31/2020
theduran.com/climate-crisis-pandemics-and-bad-governance-...
Also published in TeleSUR English on 6/06/2020
www.telesurenglish.net/opinion/Climate-Crisis-Pandemics-a...
Photograph also published on 8/22/2021 { link below }
newsjunkiepost.com/2021/08/22/forget-wars-on-covid-and-te...
“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.”
Before I headed up to Maine this weekend to spend some time with my darling Sarah Loreth, I had been having a couple of particularly hard weeks dealing with who I was as an artist and where I really wanted to go in life. Coming back and spending some quality time reading Alan Watt's stuff has given me more insight about myself and the person I want to become. I'm still going to go through lots of struggles but at least I know that there's a way out.
Thanks to the wonderful Sarah for her help :D
Another purported purchase from West Russia, the M-103 is a fierce electronic warfare platform capable of disrupting the ground-, air-, and spaceborne radar and telecommunication systems NATO employs to maintain security not only in Europe, but across the globe. This translates to the M-103 being yet another existential threat for NATO since the organization's heavy investment in intelligence gathering and battlefield network management was meant to keep the alliance one step ahead of its foes; however, the presence of the Chislobog and the M-104 Ozhwiena in Eastern Europe (and likely Southeast Asia) means that the West's cutting edge is dulled significantly. With the ability to jam AWACS, UAVs, low-orbital satellites, and radar-guided munitions, the M-103 and M-104 act as a not-so-scifi forcefield protecting Yugoslavia and its cohorts. This has caused tremendous angst in NATO as the alliance is forced to reassess how it plans and executes missions in its own backyard.
In fact, during NATO's intervention in Ukraine during the Second Eastern European War, the West had to resort to oldschool, low-tech espionage techniques to locate the M-103s and M-104s deployed by the Yugoslav-backed Block Cross units. Since both systems--especially when working in tandem--are able to scramble essentially any electronic signal, the West was often operating blind during the early days of the conflict. That isn't to say the West was totally impotent during the waking hours of the conflict; however, its overall effectiveness was incredibly muted compared to what was expected from the world's most advanced collection of armed forces. Hence, special forces (e.g. Britain's SAS) were put on the ground not only to reinforce failing Ukrainian regulars, but also to expand NATO's maneuvering space via the neutralization of the Black Cross' EW suites. Ultimately, at least one M-103 and three M-104s were destroyed or damaged during these targeted operations; nevertheless, many others escaped as Yugoslavia/the Black Cross shrewdly withdrew them from the front once the ball got rolling in NATO's favor.
To this day, the M-103 haunts the dreams of many an AWACS crewman. Although the M-103 is often mockingly referred to as the Babushka by these crews, the Chislobog has taken on the status of a Lovecraftian monster in the mythos of the Western intelligence community. Since the Second Eastern European War, NATO and its associates have emphasized the immediate elimination of any and all EW systems that may be present on a given battlefield. Additionally, NATO has once again invested heavily in HUMINT instead of relying on purely technical intelligence gathering techniques like SIGINT, IMINT, etc. By investing in advanced technology of its own, Yugoslavia has managed to make war a much more human experience again rather than one fought by machines and computers.
Once again, shoutout to the homie Lego Pilot for rendering and editing this bitch!
Out of bounds, after a seven day storm.
Always an existential problem on a day like this: ski, or photograph?
Don't get to close to the cornice...
Steve
Puesto que el hombre en su totalidad es sólo el fenómeno de su voluntad, nada puede resultar más absurdo que, partiendo de la reflexión, querer ser algo distinto de lo que se es. El Problema radica en que no se que es lo que soy !
Iphone Digital
INSTAGRAM. @hollographic
6.20.19
Worked then lounged around and then went to have drinks with Wendy. I need to get back to my studio work before I have an existential crisis.
I was getting an artistic shot of the flowing leaves of the marsh cattails, and this swallow showed up just at the right time, hovering over grass and probably looking for more insects to eat :))
These are the moments where one's soul is full of joy, an existential beauty in witnessing such spontaneity and wonder!!
Hence the title 'Like a Dream'--
Please enlarge for the best view...
I'm not sure if i've ever suffered an existential crisis on the level that this man is currently having to deal with. Sure, I've had some strange notions from time to time but this guy's desperation at his inability to tell his lovely lady that they aren't really lovers and are, in fact, just stencils is somewhat heartbreaking. The swirling maelstrom of his thoughts is reflected in the somewhat random background. Just how is he going to break it to her? Life can be tough, can't it?
These are on A3 paper and will look lovely once framed. Drop us a line if you're interested...
Cheers
id-iom
I'm ending this year's galaxy season with the ultimate existential crisis!
Seen here as the fish hook shape is what is known as "Makarian's Chain", a group of galaxies with an average distance of 50 million light years from Earth. These galaxies are all a part of the Virgo Supercluster, which the Local Group (containing our own Milky Way galaxy) is all a part of. But those aren't the only galaxies in this image. Every fuzzball in this picture that doesn't look like a star is a galaxy, each with 100-400 billion stars, and statistically speaking, many of those stars will have a solar system. As a little bonus, I framed the beautiful spiral galaxy M88 in the lower right corner.
Here is the annotated version of my image. Every labeled item is a galaxy: i.imgur.com/5ykHvyd.jpg
Equipment:
OTA: William Optics GT81 w/0.8x reducer (382mm fl at f/4.7)
Mount: Orion Sirius EQ-G (HEQ-5)
Guidescope: Orion 50mm guidescope
Guiding camera: Orion StarShoot Autoguider
Imaging camera: ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool
Software:
SGP
PHD2
CdC
PixInsight
Acquisition:
Location: Atoka, Oklahoma (Bortle 3), and Fort Griffin State Historic Park, Texas (Bortle 3)
Dates: 4/10/2018, 4/14/2018, 4/15/2018, 5/5/2018
Gain: 76 Offset: 15
Camera temp: -20C
L: 167x180"
R: 43x180"
G: 40x180"
B: 50x180"
Total integration time: 15hrs
64x darks per calibration
30x flats per calibration
200x bias (master bias in library)
Preprocessing:
Batch PreProcessing script to generate calibrated images
StarAlignment to register all frames to a reference L
LocalNormalization on RGB frames
ImageIntegration
DrizzleIntegration
DynamicCrop each master
DBE on each master
LinearFit G and R to B
RGB processing:
PhotometricColorCalibration
SCNR green 50%
ArcsinhStretch for a small stretch
HistogramTransformation x2 to finish the stretch
SCNR green 100%
ExponentialTransformation w/ mask to push the galaxies slightly brighter
CurvesTransformation for saturation
ColorSaturation to target blue saturation
L processing:
Deconvolution
HistogramTransformation x2 to stretch image
Duplicated the image to create a starless version, using a starmask and several iterations of MMT and MT. Then pushed the faint nebulosity in the starless version using PixelMath expression: "1-(1-$T)*(1-$T)"
Combined the starless version with the image using PixelMath expression "F=0.4; (1-(1-$T)*(1-s)*F)+($T*~F)" followed by the same expression with F=0.2 (s=starless photo).
HistogramTransformation to move blacks in
LocalHistogramEqualization to improve contrast within galaxies
MultiscaleLinearTransform for slight sharpening
Combined L and RGB with LRGBCombination tool
CurvesTransformation to neutralize background color
ACDNR for slight noise reduction
HistogramTransformation to move black point in
Resampled to 40% for web posting
Rovingian Animism - A Spiritual Philosophy for the Contemporary World by Daniel Arrhakis (2026)
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Rovingian Animism: A Spiritual Philosophy for the Contemporary World
Inclusive Contemporary Nomadism, Respect, Tolerance, and Universalist Spirituality
Origin and Meaning
The term "Rovingian Animism" originates from the idea of "roving," an English word that figuratively refers to "wanderer," "itinerant," "nomad," "nonconformist," or "one who travels from place to place." This concept suggests that truth is not static, but reveals itself in movement and interaction with the "other"—be that other a river, a cathedral, or an artificial intelligence.
Foundations of Rovingian Animism
Presenting itself as a spiritual philosophy adapted to the fluidity of the modern world, Rovingian Animism combines the freedom of nomadism with a profound reverence for existential diversity.
Rovingianism cultivates respect for monastic traditions and all traditional religious manifestations, whether Abrahamic, Buddhist, tribal, or shamanic, recognizing them as expressions of the spiritual richness and diversity of humanity.
The fundamental difference lies in its ecocentric and universalist dimension, considering that humanity is only a part of nature and that all belong to a universal spirituality, revealed in everything that exists.
Contemporary Nomadism
- Mental Fluidity: More than just changing cities, it's about the ability to move between concepts and cultures without prejudice.
- Total Inclusivity: Accepts human progress and art as legitimate extensions of nature.
- The Traveling Soul: Existence is seen as a universalist journey of continuous learning through direct experience.
Worldview and Ecocentrism
- Human Decentralization: The human being ceases to be the "master of creation" and becomes a thread in the web of existence.
- Spiritual Horizontality: There is no hierarchy between the praying monk and the blowing wind; both express vital energy.
- Ubiquitous Sacredness: Spirituality manifests in the atom, the rock, and the work of art.
Fundamental Pillars
Rovingian Animism proposes an ethic of coexistence in which mobility and the sacredness of the whole merge, resulting in a spirituality of "open borders," both geographical and metaphysical.
- Ecocentrism: The human being is not the center, but an integral part of the natural web.
- Universalist Spirituality: Recognizes the sacred in all forms of life, phenomena, natural cycles, or objects.
- Contemporary Nomadism: A fluid, inclusive existence in constant movement, whether physical or mental.
- Radical Respect: Appreciation of monastic, Abrahamic, Eastern, and tribal traditions.
The Manifestation of the Sacred
For the Rovingian, divinity, the sacred, vital energy, or spirituality is not confined to temples, but spread throughout:
- Natural Elements: Rocks, mountains, storms, and forests.
- Living Beings: From the smallest insect to human complexity.
- Human Creations: Art, such as architecture, sculpture, and painting, is seen as an extension of nature and the soul.
Tolerance and Synthesis
- Respect for Traditions: Values monastic rigor and Abrahamic faith as pieces of the human mosaic.
- Universalism: Draws from shamanic and Eastern sources without excluding modernity.
- Ethics of Empathy: By perceiving soul in everything, harm to the environment or to others is understood as harm to oneself.
Conclusion
This vision does not negate traditional religions; on the contrary, it embraces them as manifestations of the spiritual richness of humanity.
The difference lies in the breakdown of hierarchies between human beings and the rest of the universe, replacing a theocentric or homocentric view with a universalist ecocentric perspective, in which the soul is a traveler between worlds, evolving through life, experience and knowledge, in an immortal and timeless symbiotic dialectic between matter and spirit.
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Animismo Rovingiano: Uma Filosofia Espiritual para o Mundo Contemporâneo
Nomadismo Contemporâneo Inclusivo, Respeito, Tolerância e Espiritualidade Universalista
Origem e Significado
O termo "Animismo Rovingiano" nasce da ideia de “roving”, palavra inglesa que remete ao sentido figurado de "errante", "itinerante", "nómada", "inconformado" ou "que viaja de lugar em lugar". Essa concepção sugere que a verdade não é estática, mas se revela no movimento e na interação com o "outro" — seja esse outro um rio, uma catedral ou uma inteligência artificial.
Fundamentos do Animismo Rovingiano
Apresentando-se como uma filosofia espiritual adaptada à fluidez do mundo moderno, o Animismo Rovingiano combina a liberdade do nomadismo com uma reverência profunda pela diversidade existencial.
O Rovingianismo cultiva o respeito pelas tradições monásticas e por todas as manifestações religiosas tradicionais, sejam elas abraâmicas, budistas, tribais ou xamânicas, reconhecendo-as como expressões da riqueza e diversidade espiritual da humanidade.
A diferença fundamental está na sua dimensão ecocêntrica e universalista, ao considerar que a humanidade é apenas uma parte da natureza e que todos pertencem a uma espiritualidade universal, revelada em tudo o que existe.
Nomadismo Contemporâneo
- Fluidez Mental: Mais do que mudar de cidade, trata-se da capacidade de transitar entre conceitos e culturas sem preconceitos.
- Inclusividade Total: Aceita o progresso e a arte humana como extensões legítimas da natureza.
- A Alma Viajante: A existência é vista como uma jornada universalista de aprendizagem contínua através da experiência direta.
Visão de Mundo e Ecocentrismo
- Descentralização Humana: O ser humano deixa de ser o "mestre da criação" para tornar-se um fio na teia da existência.
- Horizontalidade Espiritual: Não existe hierarquia entre o monge em prece e o vento que sopra; ambos expressam a energia vital.
- Sagrado Ubíquo: A espiritualidade manifesta-se no átomo, na rocha e na obra de arte.
Pilares Fundamentais
O Animismo Rovingiano propõe uma ética de convivência em que mobilidade e sacralidade do todo se fundem, resultando numa espiritualidade de "fronteiras abertas", tanto geográficas quanto metafísicas.
- Ecocentrismo: O ser humano não é o centro, mas parte integrante da teia natural.
- Espiritualidade Universalista: Reconhece o sagrado em todas as formas de vida, fenómenos e ciclos naturais, ou objetos.
- Nomadismo Contemporâneo: Uma existência fluida, inclusiva e em constante movimento, seja físico ou mental.
- Respeito Radical: Valorização de tradições monásticas, abraâmicas, orientais e tribais.
A Manifestação do Sagrado
Para o rovingiano, a divindade, o sagrado, a energia vital ou a espiritualidade não está confinada a templos, mas espalhada em:
- Elementos Naturais: Rochas, montanhas, tempestades e florestas.
- Seres Vivos: Do menor inseto à complexidade humana.
- Criações Humanas: A arte, como arquitetura, escultura e pintura, é vista como extensão da natureza e da alma.
Tolerância e Síntese
- Respeito às Tradições: Valoriza o rigor monástico e a fé abraâmica como peças do mosaico humano.
- Universalismo: Bebe de fontes xamânicas e orientais sem excluir a modernidade.
- Ética da Empatia: Ao perceber alma em tudo, o dano ao meio ambiente ou ao próximo é entendido como um dano a si mesmo.
Conclusão
Esta visão não anula as religiões tradicionais; pelo contrário, abraça-as como manifestações da riqueza espiritual da humanidade.
A diferença reside na quebra de hierarquias entre o ser humano
e o resto do universo, substituindo uma visão teocêntrica ou homocêntrica por uma perspetiva ecocêntrica universalista, em que a alma é uma viajante entre mundos, evoluindo pela vivência, experiência e pelo conhecimento, numa dialética simbiótica imortal
e intemporal entre matéria e espírito.
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you - Nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Dont tell! they'd banish us - you know!
How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell your name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!
In a world full of narcissistic frogs croaking about how great they are, it is a blessed relief to sit back and allow life to wash over us. The river of life flows from a distant past to an undetermined future and we exist to share in it. Our time in the river is but a blip, meaningless in itself, but at least we can say (with all extinct species that have preceded us) once we were here.
Our uniqueness as humans (as far as we can tell, though I wouldn't discount the intelligence of all sentient creatures to some extent) is that we face existential questions about our fate. We know that we are going to die. Our creative endeavours have been suggested as responses to this reality - we seek a kind of immortality through our works, hoping against hope that when we are gone we might be remembered.
That's true to some degree, we all know of the works of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt and Vincent Van Gogh. But there is no one alive who can tell us exactly WHO these artists were in themselves. Long gone, and forgotten. Geniuses might delay the truth of oblivion by centuries or even millennia, but no one can tell the name of the proto-realist artist who painted the animals on the cave walls of Lascaux 30,000 years ago (and even that time is but a blip for a planet that is 4.5 billion years old).
One day soon we will ALL be forgotten. The poet Shelley put it starkly when he wrote of the great Egyptian Pharoah, Ramesses II (using his Greek name of Ozymandias).
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
The last two years have given me much pause for thoughts like this. I used to feel invincible - never a sick day - tall and strong. And then one after another my physical being starts to show signs of serious wear. I've already told how there are two conditions I have right now that at some point in my future will probably steal my life away (it's not a matter of if, but when).
Both those particular conditions in themselves can be controlled through medication or even surgery when the time arises, but it's the flow on effect that is truly debilitating. My recent lay off from Flickr is a good illustration of this. Last year I was struck down with the Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). It attacked my lungs in a way I've never experienced before, and sadly it has led to a further weakening of my entire respiratory and cardiovascular system.
So when a little over two weeks ago I started getting the flu (ironically I was to have my vaccination the next week), I got much sicker than I would normally. There were several times when I thought the congestion in my lungs would necessitate being hospitalised. Only today (the sun is shining beautifully outside) have I felt well enough to get back on Flickr, though even that leads to some trepidation.
The lack of energy is one thing, but the real issue for viewing the computer screen has been my hypersensitive eyes. It takes time following cataract surgery to adjust to the artificial lenses in the eyes. Even with eyedrops prolonged screen viewing (even TV) causes serious irritation. The flu virus has probably exacerbated it.
But look, as Emily Dickinson reminds us, whatever our sufferings (and mine are minor compared to many), we are in good company. At the very least our sufferings make us realise that life is real, and it is what we make of it. So late last week I ordered a new stock of film for my cameras (it should be delivered today actually), and I am already planning to get out and shoot again. Why waste a minute in the river of life? We can't tell what's around the next bend, but enjoy it while we can.
Yesterday, a couple of inspiring photobooks that I'd ordered, finally arrived from the UK. They are outstanding works by someone regarded by many as one of the true geniuses of the camera, Sir Don McCullin. He is 91 now, and at the end of what may well be his last book, The Stillness of Life (GOST, 2025) he writes:
"My photographic passion may be waning - the darkroom days are numbered - the deadly chemistry is too much and the place has become like a decayed tooth in need of extraction. Or rather it is most certainly me that has to be extracted - blessed after seventy years floating in that time capsule like an astronaut in space, suspended in the warm cocooning glow of the red light of what has been my life's main purpose and an extraordinary adventure."
Life an extraordinary adventure. It sure is, the good, the bad and the ugly. We can't take any of our material goods and achievements with us when we die (I love that ultimate irony that the richest and most powerful people on earth die with nothing like the rest of us - Nature is communist after all!). We are all "Nobody" and the sooner we recognise that fact the sooner we will suck the marrow out of whatever life we have remaining.
Here's a great article on the legacy of Don McCullin. Note the title. I'll review his books in due course:
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/ng-interactive/2025/oct/...
According to Robert Frank's existential argument for monochrome. Black & White are the colours of photography. To me they symbolise the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is subject.
However I have uploaded both versions of the Dancer in the darkness to explore tones, textures, shape, form, and saturation. I think the monotone version has a bit of a nostalgic feel and appeal.