The Typewriter And Authenticity

Every Page a Lasting Fingerprint Browsing at an antique fair, I was attracted to this typewriter with crooked letters, yellowed keys and options no longer used on computer keyboards (ribbon, margin release, fractions, cent-sign). In 1575 an Italian printmaker named Francesco Rampazetto built a machine that impressed letters on paper. Centuries later, variations on his […]

The Illusion of Control

What can we do in the face of unsettling change, eroding confidence and civility? The world has tilted in the direction of uncertainty. Social, economic and cultural norms are shifting and many are being dismantled.[1] Droughts, tornados, fires and flooding are becoming more frequent and severe. Technologies are evolving faster than the wisdom to manage […]

The Soul of Photography

Chapter 2: The Aesthetic Dimensions Artists working in visual media train themselves to perceive beyond looking by continuously imagining or creating actual frames around everything they see. After a while a pattern emerges in the subjects they choose and the materials and techniques that work best. Along with these, they develop certain aesthetic preferences—choices relating […]

Art And Meaning

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 […]

Singular Purpose or Vision

Many Become One Through a Process of Coalescence Systemically, an orchestra consists of a whole greater than the sum of its parts. Through loving collaboration—the characteristic feature of “synergy”—each musician contributes to a complex of sounds beyond the capability of his or her competence with an instrument, even beyond the full realization of their individual […]

Spirit Lives On

Downtown on a playground A little girl saw a white man With a camera And she ran to him. Take my pitcher! Take my pitcher! Take my pitcher! She shouted. When photographing in other cultures The pointing of my camera Sometimes caused children to turn away And adults to turn their backs. What’s the difference […]

Spirit Lives On

Downtown on a playground A little girl saw a white man With a camera And she ran to him. Take my pitcher! Take my pitcher! Take my pitcher! She shouted. When photographing in other cultures The pointing of my camera Caused children to turn away And adults to turn their backs. What’s the difference I […]