The primacy of consciousness The relationship between the workers seen here and their towering creation took me to that place of amazement over what and how fast we can build. Prior to these steel structures being set in place, beams that would eventually support the bleacher seats in a football stadium, there were innumerable people […]
The random arrangement of visual elements juxtaposing lights and darks in this image comes near to creating abstraction because the subject matter is easily “read.” Another aesthetic feature here is the number of visual elements, each tonal change representing one of them. The more there are, the more complex the image, so there’s increased potential […]
This image resulted from inspiration I received many years ago after seeing the work of Jerry Uelsmann, a master of the multiple printing technique. His work caught my attention because he was a graduate of R.I.T.. Although the word inspiration derives from inspiratio, which is Latin for “divine guidance,” a modern dictionary renders it a […]
The Japanese way of seeing beauty in entropy We tend to think of entropy as something “bad,” the inevitable tendency for matter to dissipate, for all living things to die. As embodied creatures, we naturally would prefer to avoid this downward spiral—for ourselves, loved ones, pets, creations, cherished objects and the systems we use in […]
A creative act that makes a powerful statement Ethan Miller, my grandson, when he was four Wouldn’t we all like to get this kind of response from those we deeply care about—at any age? Gifting is a critically significant form of communication, extending as far back as one Neanderthal offering a cherished stone or bone […]
A deeper perspective Philosopher Ken Wilber’s perspective on art in The Eye of Spirit: An Integral Vision For a World Gone Slightly Mad beautifully expresses what I believe is its highest potential—that everything is art. My philosopher friend, Beatrice Bruteau, made it explicit. “Since the divine Artist has chosen to create, we cannot love the […]
There are no “accidents” Look closely. Anyone who has engaged in sustained creative activity, irrespective of medium and expression, has encountered a multitude of “happy accidents,” positive outcomes that occur spontaneously, without intention or planning. Here, a dragonfly happened to be in the frame when I was photographing the sun and clouds. Somewhere in my […]
What matters is how we use them What is the relationship between data, information, knowledge and wisdom? And what part does this play in human development and the expansion of consciousness? In his 1950 groundbreaking book, The Human Use Of Human Beings, mathematician Norbert Weiner defined “message” as “A sequence of events in time which… […]
Life’s determination to expand from a center or core Layering is how many things grow organically—from the inside out. Metaphorically, when we want to understand an object, system or process we “peel away” the layers so we can see what’s inside or what’s happening. It’s the basis for analysis, taking things apart to look “under […]
The application of skill and imagination to create new things I’ve long thought that typewriters were amazing. I used the above machine in my freshman year of college. The image called out to me, so I decided to try and understand why. Consulting the web, I discovered that in 1575 an Italian printmaker named Francesco […]
Contemplative Photography 