color photograph

lens-artists: pick a favorite quote and illustrate it

Every life is a point of view directed upon the universe. Strictly speaking, what one life sees no other can. Every individual, . . . is an organ, for which there can be no substitute, constructed for the apprehension of truth . . . Without the development, the perpetual change and the inexhaustible series of adventures which constitute life, the universe, or absolutely valid truth, would remain unknown . . . Reality happens to be like a landscape, possessed of an infinite number of perspectives, all equally veracious and authentic. The sole false perspective is that which claims to be the only one there is. ~José Ortega y Gasset

One of the magical things about photography is the transformation that takes place when you photograph something.  Something that inherently has very little going for it, in terms of interest you take in it, can become infinitely more interesting when rendered as a photograph. ~ Grant Mudford

…our ordinary vision is limited, and…our conventional consensus of reality is not the only version of reality.

The complex multidimensionality of the modern world no doubt contributes to the constructive habit of the mind that, in its attempt to provide meaning, continually rearranges the world to fit individual needs. The failure to recognize the constructive nature of the mind can be a major obstacle to artistry and creativity. Conversely, understanding the constructive nature of the mind and reality can lead the way to Great Understanding in the art of photography and in the art of living. ~Philippe L Gross & S.I. Shapiro, Tao of Photography

It is interesting how there are quotes that – like old friends – wander throughout life with us offering bits of wisdom here and there. Leya for this Lens-Artists invitation.

the waiting room – the hot murdering sun

“Show me, then. Convince me. Roll back the rock. Return … . All of her. Gift her back to me, all sewn up and pretty and dark-eyed again. That’s all I ask. Is that too much? No more whining from me, no more weeping, no more complaints. A heavenly stitch, that’s all I ask. And bring back … too, for …, for me, for …, for …, for …, for … for all of us. And while you’re at it, bring back … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and … and every other one under this hot murdering sun. Is that too much to ask for? Is it?”*

become aware of the suffering within war

*cited: Colum McCann, Apeirogon

lens-artists: looking back

On The Water…

This week Wandering Dawgs looks back into lens-artists’ history to July 3, 2012 – John’s challenge #151: On the Water – and invites photographers to “show anything on the water.”

The magical moment of seeing a wasp dance on water was one of the images posted for John’s On the Water challenge.

Being on water are moments of energy …

and quiet reflection

Thank you Beth for your invitation to review and reflect on past moments of time “on the water.”

the waiting room

April’s calendar … April, a month of increasing memorial days eclipsing birthdays.

When from the neighbouring garden the perfume-laden air
Saturates my soul with memories,
Rises the thought of the beloved plum-tree
Blooming under the eaves of the house which is gone. ~ The Sarashina Diary

April is my mother’s birthday as well as her memorial month. April … a month of revisiting moments … reacquainting with an amazing woman … a person.

When we were together, within our mother-daughter roles, were we strangers hidden behind our labels?

April is my great-granddaughter’s birthday. A month of celebration … of joy …. of cuddly soft buddies … of new beginnings

*cited: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan, digital.library.upen.edu

Fujifilm X-T4: f/11 1/6 s 80 mm 400 ISO

Fujifilm X-T4: f/8 1/25 s 80 mm 400 ISO

lens-artists: framing your shots: exploring the foreground, middle ground, and background

The three grounds within this black and white image begins with the play of light and shadow at the bottom of the page. The shadowed lines on the left side of the image brings the eye to the tree and human figure in the mid ground and then to the trees in the background.

The spot light on the bathroom counter was the eye catcher for me. The toothbrush holder and its shadow defines the foreground. The tissue box sits within the middle ground while its reflection in the mirror creates the background.

Since warm colors seem to be closer than cold colors could one of my dawn images offer an exploration of how color may come into play creating the three grounds. I see the foreground defined by the black horizon while the morning’s sun light as well as the orange in the sky creating the middle ground as the sky’s blue at the top of the image brings us to the background.

I find it interesting that most Chinese landscapes contain three individual vertical plans to represent depth within paintings. The foreground usually consists of “earthly bound” objects like people, animals, buildings, and forest. The middle plane often represents emptiness in the form of clouds, mist or water. The background plane often includes “heavenly” elements such as hills and mountains as well as sky. The Chinese landscape painters did not use perspective as we paint it in representational art (or see it via the one-point perspective lens of a camera), but instead showed depth with the three planes. In each one of these planes negative space – emptiness – plays a key compositional role.*

This was fun, thank you Patti

*cited: The Luminous Landscape

the waiting room

Were there someone

in the world

who feels as I feel,

we would talk all night

in this grass hut. ~Ryokan (Trans: K Tanahashi, Sky Above, Great Wind)

As I watch the eastern horizon’s transition from the black of night to first light’s opaque colors and then to sunrise’s pastels, I find myself asking,” “What is it that you are waiting for? Or, are you, unknowingly, waiting for someone?”

The morning news filters into my consciousness, blinding me to what is now, and another cycle of searching and editing of words … sentences … meaning begins an undeclared battle with internalized others; fragmented, abstract, vague, absent others.

a dove-grey morning of mourning


It was a perfect morning – a dove-gray sky with the amazing saturation of reds, oranges, and yellows … a braking car, a Pepsi truck, Target’s target …


A dove-gray morning that felt like 31 degrees with its 3 mph SSE breeze and 51% precipitation.


A dove-gray morning with the chilly tickle of the breeze upon my face as I walked sure footed in barefoot shoes and freed from hip and knee arthritic pain … a temporary release from the imprisonments of fading health.


A dove-gray morning with blooming trees filled with Spring’s whites and purple blossoms that seemingly woke during the night as I slumbered.


A dove-grey morning that carried the silent memories of fog horns, condensed-covered windows, pajama breakfasts with melting buttered waffles, maple syrup, bacon, rich dark coffee, unique scent of the newspaper, and the medley of sounds — crunchy folded newspaper, laughter, and voices of morning kitchen reunions from slumber to wakie-wakieness.


A gray-dove morning with unknown and unheard sounds of explosions as drones fill the sky; fear-filled, pain-filled screams intermixing with crumbling buildings … lives forever traumatized … all deafened by distance voices filling the air, “keep blowing them away” – “keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy.”

A gray-dove morning with a 9 year old bully in his ill-fitting Sunday clothes at the helm.

A gray-dove morning where more than 1,900 people have been killed and at least 20,000 injured in Iran.” …”more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced nearly 1 million, 20% of the country’s entire population, creating a humanitarian crisis.”

A dove-grey morning of mourning

lens-artists: the power of juxtaposition

As I visited various lens artists I was amazed how photographers would “see” and explain juxtaposition within their images. As a visual leaner I was then WOWed by the photographs in 500px … the expertise and creative use of juxtaposition, amazingly inspiring.

I then traveled through my media file to see if there were any images that may fit into examples discussed within the 500px article. So … hesitantly I offer the images below: near versus far, big versus small, human versus object, light versus dark, and side by side placement. I hope you enjoy.

near versus far
big versus small
human versus object
side by side placement
light versus dark

Thank you for visiting … I hope you enjoyed this brief journey encouraged by of Patti’s invitation to “to explore juxtaposition as a photographic technique.”

lens-artists: unusual crop

Contemplative and landscape photographs submitted in response to Ritva’s lens-artist challenge: encouraging photographers to deliberately defy traditional framing conventions.

Photographing what is … the morning’s light

landscape images cropped with a focus on negative space.