We work incredibly hard to create remnants of the past that will help us imagine what it was like: think of ghost towns and historic monuments. National and state park systems have developed strict guidelines for how to repair “historic” structures, e.g., what materials can be used for public-facing projects (stuff visitors might see) need […]
I couldn’t resist the siren calls of a late winter snow storm. promising the chance to wander a desolate world, alone. The late winter snow adds to the atmosphere and makes glad for my gloves and heavy coat, luxuries the Continental Army did not enjoy.
I don’t know why this feed door caught my eye. Maybe it was the contrast between the red door and the white wall — Why did they bother painting the door red? Does the color mean anything or serve any purpose? Seems unlikely. Maybe I was drawn to the traces of use in the worn […]
A bit late this month, but a new postcard is now available. Wandering around the ruins of Clifden Castle, I couldn’t help but think about how quickly our feeble efforts at permanence decline into ruin. It was a reminder to enjoy the evening, the breeze coming off the bay, the smell of early spring. These […]
I find something relaxing about taking photographs of horses. There’s no talking and very little effort expended to get them to pose. I tend to watch them for some time, just trying to get a sense of how they are moving in their stalls. I often wonder what they are thinking, as they look out. […]
How to find time every day for photography, in seven easy steps: Open Calendar app. Create 1-hour meeting: “Take pictures”. Set up reminder for 15 minutes before meeting. Set event to repeat each workday for entire month. Don’t schedule anything else for those times.(if I must schedule something for that time, immediately reschedule “Take pictures” […]
Karl Ove Knausgård is suspicious of photographs, or any art really, that he likes for primarily aesthetic reasons. A profound Protestantism, he thinks, rejects anything that comes too easily, that doesn’t require effort and work. He worries that he must contemplate a photograph in order to discern its meaning and therefore its significance. Only such […]
Whenever I see a new picture I immediately seem to like and find aesthetically pleasing, I am suspicious. This cannot possibly be good, I think to myself. This cannot possibly be art. It feels like the spontaneous pleasure, the immediate sense of aesthetic satisfaction I derive in such instances is too easy and too shallow […]
La photographie, ainsi que je la comprends, est simplement un autre moyen de prendre des notes. Comme toutes notes, les notes photographiques sont forcément incomplètes, car il se peut qu’elles n’expriment pas le sujet sous toutes ses faces, mais chaque photographie doit toucher l’essentiel du sujet car le déclic rend cette photographie définitive. H. Cartier-Bresson, […]
John D’Arcy was a wealthy landowner who built this castle ca. 1818, just outside the town he founded. He and his family lived in it for about twenty years. After he died, his son inherited the castle and lived there until the family went bankrupt about a decade later. New owners. Renovations. Yet more new […]