PotD / Social Commentary

8 Things REALLY Smart People Know

May 28, 2015

The Boss (2010)

“This photographic thing has changed the entire vision of the world. It will go through every activity of humanity — science, medicine, space, ESP, for peace, against peace, entertainment, television, movies, all of them — you will not find one without photography.” -Lisette Model

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Clickbait lists are especially good at spreading pseudo-science and fear mongering. Lists such as “10 Foods You Shouldn’t Eat” and “5 Big Companies You Can’t Trust” do more harm than good, destroying any trust we have in our fellow man. Personally, I tend to defer a number of issues to those smarter than me; a lot smarter than me. I’m not talking about the “four out of five” ratio, but more like 99 of 100, and only the really intelligent thinkers among those. They tend to be unanimous on a number of issues the rest of us still waste time arguing about. Here are a few such examples.

Humans Cause Climate Change

For the smartest people in the world, this is a no-brainer. They stopped arguing about it 40 years ago and have been focusing their attention where it belongs: finding a solution. Is this a convenient fact? No. Does a solution likely involve a dramatic shift in the way some industries do business? Yes. Is there any reason is should be limited by political belly-aching? No. The argument has been over a long time. Move forward.

You’re Only As Good As The People Around You

Smart people surround themselves with smart people and make every effort to bring those people up to their level. Very little is achieved working alone and doing great things that change the world requires everyone on the team be at the top of their game. Really smart people know that and manage their teams by teaching them and encouraging to learn more and develop their skills. Is there any reason we all shouldn’t take that approach? No, there isn’t.

No6 Don’t Just Focus On One Thing

Just as you were likely taught to not put all your eggs in one basket, focusing on only one thing at a time is rarely a good idea, either. Really smart people know that our brains are designed to multi-task and need stimulus from a number of different directions in order to operate most efficiently. Science and music work remarkably well, for example, as do business and sports. Even within a general industry, focusing on multiple projects, having more than one ball in the air, keeps our minds more alert and creative.

Evolution Happens

The smartest people in the world just assume the rest of us know this and laugh and scoff when encountering someone who’s not on board. They understand the amount of evidence accumulated at this point is too high for there to be any alternative. They’ve known this for well over a hundred years now. That anyone is still arguing the point is rather like saying one would rather believe in magic than science. Governments that promote magic rather than real education are ultimately enslaving their people.[/one_half]

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No4 Artificial Intelligence Is Scary

Really smart people do have fears and the one that bothers the smartest, from Elon Musk to Stephen Hawking, is Artificial Intelligence (AI). We’re talking about something much more advanced than your smart phone, though. What bothers them is giving a device the ability to make changes and adjustments based upon its input without direct human interference. While it’s nice to have devices doing the thinking for us, eventually they figure out they don’t need us. We need to proceed carefully.

Vaccinations Are Important

Want to entice a really smart person to smack you? Tell them you don’t believe in vaccinations. Really smart people know that vaccinations save lives. How many lives we can’t know because the people who were vaccinated never became ill in the first place! What we do know is that in parts of the world where vaccinations don’t happen disease is far more rampant and much more difficult to control. The whole anti-vaccination movement is based on something proven to be a lie. Get your immunizations now.

Most GMOs Are Safe … And Necessary

Again, pseudo-science and outright lies spread across the Internet have done a great disservice is causing us to distrust our food sources. Don’t like Genetically Modified Organisms? Put down that strawberry; they wouldn’t exist without genetic modification. Stop eating asparagus; its current form is almost unrecognizable from the little annoying weed it once was. Same is true for a number of foods one now laughably sees marketed as organic. Really smart people know that to feed the seven billion plus people in the world, we need food that can adapt to being grown in a variety of climates and soils. Without GMOs, we’re all going to starve.

Just Because It Hasn’t Been Proven Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t True

Really smart people understand there are some things we will never know (because we can’t go back in time) and some things we don’t yet have the ability to know. They’re okay with that because the preponderance of evidence points to a single solution. Really smart people are also okay with Truth not being an absolute. Truth once said that the universe revolved around the Earth. As our ability to understand and observe the universe changed, so did Truth. This is why they use the word theory; it is the Truth as we are able to understand it at this moment.

Really smart people agree on a lot of things. Maybe we should listen.[/one_half_last]

PotD / Social Commentary

6 Reasons No One Likes You

May 27, 2015

Broken Princess (2011)

“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.” -Edward Steichen

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]Yesterday we explained to everyone that you’re going to die. Armed with that knowledge, one might think that people would be a bit nicer, more accommodating, and trying to leave an enduring legacy of peace and hope. Nope, that’s not happening. Instead, we’re surrounded by people who are absolutely rotten and don’t seem to be capable of understanding exactly why it is that no one likes them. The whole situation might be funny if it weren’t for the fact that roughly half the US population is not only unlikable but absolutely baffled as to why. Please, allow us to try and shed some light on the subject. While the justifications are myriad, we have concatenated them down to six primary reasons that no one likes you.

You Are A Homophobe

Let me state for the record that we are combining all negative attitudes toward anyone within the LGBTQ community. Gay jokes are no longer acceptable. “That’s so gay” is one of the most rude statements you can make. All those derogatory terms you’ve been using? I can’t think of any faster way to get reasonable people to turn their back and walk away. LGBTQ people are absolutely no threat to you, so stop being so damn afraid. They’re not out to recruit you. They’re not going to cause the downfall of society. They’re not responsible for bad weather. Letting them marry isn’t going to effect your sham of a marriage. Get over yourself already and accept them for the beautiful people they are.

You’re Greedy

Interestingly enough, we’re not necessarily talking about the 1% here. At least, we’re not talking about the richest .o1%. I’ve met some of those people and found them to be among the most generous because they realize that, to a very large extent, they got lucky. What no one likes is the person who is among the nouveau rich and can’t be bothered to share their wealth with anyone else. They think they need a third house, a fourth car, or a bigger boat while complaining about all those “other” people who simply would like a living wage without having to work three jobs. For you, I have a very important message:

Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. Proverbs 23:4

You Only Think About Yourself

Whether one has any money or not, only thinking about yourself, insisting that the world revolves around you, is just as bad a social crime as being a greedy SOB. This would include the sales manager who keeps demanding more of his/her floor people so they have less work to do themselves. Bosses who make everyone else work weekends but doesn’t work one themselves also falls into this category. Oh, and let’s not forget the people who demand everyone help them move but are always “busy” when someone else needs help. It is time you understand that we see through your bullshit and we don’t like you.[/one_half]

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You Diss People Who Genuinely Need Help

I genuinely fail to understand this whole war on the poor and disadvantaged that has popped up over the past few years. This is very much not a part of the United States in which I grew up and it has the ability to make me angry about as fast as anything can. I was raised that when you see someone who needs help, you help them, not spit at them or yell at them to “get a job.” We felt pity for those who were unemployed and had difficulty finding work. There was an understanding that even those who are on government assistance still often need additional help with clothing and transportation. Helping people was not just the Christian thing to do, it was the human thing to do. Now, not helping is actually a plank in some people’s presidential platform! Poor are called greedy just for wanting to feed their children. Homeless are shamed because they lost jobs that went overseas. You talk bad about disadvantaged people and not only does no one like you but I firmly believe the universe will wreak vengeance on you.

You Enjoy Hurting People

There is a whole culture of violence across the country that seems to be growing. Perhaps it is fueled by anger to some degree, but more than anything I find it is fueled by fears that are totally unreasonable. Racism is part of it, but there’s more than that going on for violence between people of the same color is higher than ever. We’re finally starting to call out publicly those people who commit acts of domestic violence against family members, and unnecessary violence among law enforcement is getting some attention. But bullying still remains a critical issue and gang on gang violence hasn’t backed off for years. If you’re involved in hurting other people on any level, no one likes you. No one wants you around. No one wants to risk being your next victim.

You’re a member of the United States Congress

Nine percent. That’s how many people in the US approve of Congress. Let’s flip that number, shall we? Ninety-one percent of all the people from one end of this country to the other dislike the United States Congress. This isn’t a new revelation, of course, but it is an all-time low and damned if the members of Congress don’t seem to care. We send them to Washington, we pay their salaries, we pay their staff’s salaries, we entrust them with the care of the nation and what do they do? Nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true; they generate a lot of hot air as complain about how horrible everyone else is. Heaven forbid any of them actually set a good example or anything like that. Members of Congress, we loathe you.

Of course, how you choose to behave is something totally under your control. No one forces you to be an asshole, you choose it. You have the ability to change. That doesn’t mean everyone will suddenly like you because we’re used to not trusting; but if you can change, so can everyone’s opinion of you. Just try.[/one_half_last]

PotD / Social Commentary

10 Reasons You Are Going To DIE!

May 26, 2015

When Dreams Die (2010)

“It is said that mourning, by its gradual labour, slowly erases pain; I could not, I cannot believe this; because for me, Time eliminates the emotion of loss (I do not weep), that is all. For the rest, everything has remained motionless. For what I have lost is not a Figure (the Mother), but a being; and not a being, but a quality (a soul): not the indispensable, but the irreplaceable.” ― Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]You are not safe. You are going to die. If you don’t believe me, just check any of the clickbait lists on social media expounding upon the many ways in which that just might happen. Everything from e-cigs to orange juice has one problem or another if you ask the right person. The internet has made it possible for bad science, or often no science, to have a voice it really shouldn’t have and the result is fear mongering over issues that really shouldn’t exist. So, here’s a list of all the things that really, seriously, could result in your death.

There’s Someone In Your Life Who Needs The Insurance Money

Sure, you like to think that everyone loves you. Your spouse adores the ground on which you walk. Your parents think you do no wrong. Your siblings aren’t the least be jealous. Your co-workers are proud of your accomplishments. Right. Go ahead and think that. In reality, most murder victims are killed by someone they know, often a family member. The larger your insurance policy, the greater the risk. Be careful with that OJ this morning.

You’re Starving While Searching For Non-GMO Food

I’m still not sure how genetically modified food suddenly went from being the god-send that would end hunger around the planet to the horrible poison that is going to kill us all. There isn’t a substantial amount real science to back up all the fear mongering and political arm-twisting on the subject. Fact is, strawberries as we know and enjoy them wouldn’t even exist without some genetic modification. Same is true for a number of standard foods, which makes it absolutely laughable when one sees them in the organic section of the produce aisle. As the world becomes less hospitable to traditional farming, the choices are likely to be GMO or die. Your call.

When The Polar Ice Cap Melts, You’ll Drown

I recently heard one climate-change denier base his entire argument on the fact that property he owns in Key West isn’t yet under water. The key word there, pardon the pun, is yet. Climate change wasn’t an argument when I was in elementary school. Over 40 years ago we were being taught that as greenhouse gasses increased, the earth’s temperature would warm and the oceans would inevitably rise, eventually dramatically reshaping the continents as we know them now. What has changed is the timetable. Back then, most scientists were estimating that rise would take effect somewhere in the 22nd century. Now, most are saying it could happen in this one. I hope you know how to dog paddle.

You Drive Like A Moron

I no longer drive. What being a passenger the past few years has taught me is that those of you who do drive are nuts. Every day, we encounter so many near-misses that I’m amazed we’re not burying more drivers. The fact that people have actually become proficient at dodging each other should tell us just how bad our driving has become. Driving rules really aren’t that difficult. Stay in your lane. Use your damn turn signal. Slow the fuck down already! Keep your eyes on the road, not your phone. Perhaps most important, though, is that you actually plan your trip so you know where you’re going and know when you need to leave. Traffic is going to suck. Plan on it and maybe you won’t be the reason everyone else is late for work.

The Elevator Cable Broke

I have a habit when I get on elevators. I look for the weight limit and then check the people who are around me. If it appears we might be pushing that weight limit, I get off the damn elevator. I’m not taking that risk. Yes, I know modern elevators have emergency braking systems in case the cable breaks. I don’t trust them. Why? Americans are obese and one place where that creates a real strain is on elevator cables lifting our fat asses from the first floor to the second because we get winded taking the stairs. Breaking cables are inevitable. Go ahead and keep eating like a pig if you must. Just be careful going to your doctor. The cardiac specialist is on the fourteenth floor.

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You Share Needles

Southern Indiana has recently experienced a dramatic increase in HIV/AIDS cases due to one specific problem: needle sharing. Now, while a lot of the political rhetoric centers around the state cutting funding for public health sources, the reality is that if you’re sharing needles you’re just asking to die. Period. I’ll admit that I don’t really understand what drives a person to share needles in the first place; that’s not an addiction that has ever been remotely tempting. I do, however, realize that the problem is ultimately, politics aside, one of your own doing. So, let’s get this straight: if you share needles, you’re going to die and it’s not going to be pretty.

You Weren’t Immunized

Here’s another piece of bad science that has just gotten totally out of control. A recent measles outbreak is evidence of just how stupid some people can be when it comes to the health of their own children. Measles. Really. We had that disease all but licked until a few idiots decided to stop immunizing their kids. Next think you know, children everywhere, especially those who already had some form of immune deficiency, are breaking out with one of the most easily eradicated and totally unnecessary diseases possible. There is no real science behind anti-vaxing, just paranoid stupidity and the end results are lethal. Not immunizing your children is signing their death warrant. The risk is just that real. Stupid.

You Left The Oven On

Haven’t we all been there? We’re driving down the road, 30 minutes or so from home, when we suddenly wonder whether we actually remembered to turn off the oven. Okay, so millennials don’t have this problem because they don’t know how to cook, but older generations understand. There’s always that chance that you left on the oven, which means there could be gas building up inside your own right now, creating an inevitable powder keg. All it needs is the sudden rush of oxygen you’ll make available when you open the door, and boom! You, your house, and possibly even your neighbor’s houses are all going up in smoke. You know it could happen. You’re never really sure. Maybe you should turn around and check now.

Elves

I’m not kidding. They’re out there. We’re not talking about the little guys that help Santa deliver presents on Christmas Eve, either. Elves are evil, mean, and waiting to sabotage your every move, your every plan. You never see the little suckers until it’s too late. They tampered with your break lines. They put sleeping powder in the pilot’s coffee. Elves stretch electrical cords across the floor and then make them invisible until you’ve tripped over one. The water on the floor that cause you to slip and fall? Elves. I tell you, man, their everywhere and they’re out to get you. I swear it.

The Bible Tells Me So

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27 KJV

Sorry, I’m not making this one up. It’s really there. There’s no getting around it. Nothing you do is going to save your ass. You’re done for you’re going to die. The Bible says so. You’re toast.

Are you scared yet? Are you ready to crawl in a hole and hide? Can we get real for a moment? Sure, we’re all going to die, sooner or later, one way or another. I frequently tell the story of my Uncle Fred who died from smoking two and a half packs of cigarettes a day. He was 96. He didn’t stop smoking until he was 94. How, where and when one dies matters much less than how one lives. You have one life. Are you going to spend it worrying about what might kill you or are you going to spend your life actually living? You don’t have to listen to all the doomsayers on the Internet. You’ll probably live longer if you spend less time on the Internet completely. So go ahead. Defy death. Live. [/one_half_last]

PotD / Social Commentary

6 Reasons We Remember

May 25, 2015

At Rest In Formation (2015)

“What use is having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?” -W. Eugene Smith

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]When a young man or woman enlists for military service, especially as a volunteer, they do so knowing the sacrifice they may pay. Over the course of our nation’s history, there have been thousands of brave military personnel, both officers and enlisted, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, many paying a price we most dread paying. Each and every one of those stories is worth telling, but neither time nor space permit doing so here.

What is often overlooked in all the combat-related stories are acts of heroism by members of our military on the humanitarian front. Military involvement in relief services around the world is ongoing, even in times of Peace. When disaster looms, anywhere people are hurting and are in need, the US Military is there, sometimes even when the “need” is only two small children. Here are just a few reasons the people conducting these services need to be remembered.

Berlin Airlift, 1947-49

After World War II, as Allied forces first divided up control of Germany and then started arguing with each other, the Cold War created its first crisis. The Soviet Union formed a blockade preventing necessary supplies from getting to West Berlin, which was under the control of the US and UK. Two million people were at risk. The city had been bombed out and there wasn’t sufficient shelter. There was no fuel for heat. Food and water were controlled by the black market. Starvation was imminent. The US sent C-47 Bombers to Britain and for two years they made daily flights to Berlin delivering 646 tons of flour and wheat, 125 tons of cereal, 64 tons of fat, 109 tons of meat and fish, 180 tons of dehydrated potatoes, 180 tons of sugar, 11 tons of coffee, 19 tons of powdered milk, 5 tons of whole milk for children, 3 tons of fresh yeast for baking, 144 tons of dehydrated vegetables, 38 tons of salt and 10 tons of cheese every day. Their service and dedication to “Operation Vittles” kept the people of Berlin alive.

Biafran Airlift, 1968-70

While most of US were committed to conflicts in Vietnam and Cambodia, the civil war in Nigeria created an incredible humanitarian need in and around Biafra. Non-government charity organizations (NGOs), most with religious affiliation, attempted to address the situation independently, but found that doing so was practically impossible because of the ongoing tribal wars. US military personnel provided logistical support in addition to considerable security and air support in a dramatic airlift that was at times every bit as dangerous as flying missions over Vietnam. Often a thankless task, it was frequently difficult to tell who was friendly and who wasn’t, but the US military maintained its point relief program despite criticism of aiding the “wrong” kinds of people.

Ethiopian Famine, 1984-85

A weak government and drought brought Ethiopia into the worst drought seen in several centuries. Even before the international community was fully aware of the disaster, over 400,000 people had died; that number quickly climbed to over a million. Agencies such as the United Nations and the International Red Cross did their best to help, but the government’s inability to distribute food was a constant issue. Today, popular media likes to highlight Bob Geldof’s Live Aid event as being responsible for turning the tide, but in reality it was the combined efforts of the United States military relief services with Britain and other allies that made the difference. US troops provided ground-level security while planes dropped food and medical supplies to remote parts of the country even long after the television cameras went away.[/one_half]

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Sudan Medical Missions, 1988

Extensive flooding throughout Sudan in August, 1988, created a severe health crisis that had the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention begging for help. The US Army sent teams of medical personnel on immunization missions into the most remote parts of Sudan among a group of people who were unfamiliar with the practices of modern medicine. Army teams often found themselves at odds with the very people they had been sent to help and had to carefully develop relationships with each community before they were able to achieve any level of success. Meanwhile, Army medical personnel were subjected to malaria and other diseases, some of which proved fatal. Despite incredible hardship and constant criticism in far from adequate conditions, Army medical teams persevered until the threat was eliminated.

Air Rescue Crew “Komodo 11”

The weather sucked on 23 March 2003 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. While all other aircraft were grounded, orders were issued to scramble two HH-60s not because of any direct enemy threat but to rescue to Afghan children who had been severely injured. Without immediate medical attention, they would die. The two helicopters took off in the bad weather and, for reasons unknown, one of the choppers using call sign Komodo 11 went down, presumably because of the weather. Killed were: 1st Lt. Tamara Archuleta, 23, of Los Lunas, N.M.; Staff Sgt. Jason Hicks, 25, of Jefferson, S.C.; Master Sgt. Michael Maltz, 42, of St. Petersburg, Fla.; Senior Airman Jason Plite, 21, of Lansing, Mich.; Lt. Col. John Stein, 39, of Bardolph, Ill.; and Staff Sgt. John Teal, 29, of Dallas. The children were rescued and survived.

Nepal Mercy Mission, 2015

The final entry on our list this morning is the newest, and in some ways the most difficult for me to write. It was less than a month ago when a devastating earthquake hit the small country of Nepal killing over 8,000 people. As aid flowed into the country from all over the world, actually getting assistance to people outside Kathmandu was extremely difficult because almost all roads had been destroyed. In answer to this predicament, we sent in our best: The United States Marines. Not all of those missions have gone well, though, and this past week a helicopter carrying a relief team went down, killing everyone on board. NPR has an article remembering the six Marine lives lost. They were all young; Lance Cpl. Jacob Hug turned 22 while delivering rice in Nepal. Many were parents; Capt. Dustin Lukasiewicz was married with a young daughter, looking forward to returning to Nebraska for the birth of their second child. They were all committed to helping the people of Nepal because they were all committed to being US Marines.

The men and women of the United States Armed Forces do more than carry guns, fly planes, shoot cannons, and kill bad guys. The US military represents the entire United States, doing for us what we either cannot, or perhaps in some cases should not, do on our own. Every time someone puts on a uniform, they understand the risk and it is one they assume with pride. Today, we remember not only those who served in times of war, but those who gave their lives helping others. We thank you all.[/one_half_last]

Photography / pop culture / PotD

5 Reasons You Can’t Take A Good Picture

May 24, 2015

Untitled (2009)

“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” -Imogene Cunningham

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Anyone who has a social media account of most any kind understands the clickbait list trap. They pull you in with an enticing title such as “Warner Bros. Cartoon Characters: Where Are They Now,” and you click the link thinking that this might actually be interesting information, especially since Speedy Gonzalez just disappeared suddenly without a trace. Oh, but when you get there, you have to click and click and click and click! The average ten-entry list requires you to click at least 30 times to see all the information, and even then it’s usually not as awesome as you’d like. Then, there are auto-play videos and other articles and ads all over the place. Mis-click just once and you’re down a rabbit hole from which there is no return.

So, this week we’re turning the tables a bit with a set of lists that sound as though they might be something that would appear on a clickbait site, but we promise you won’t have to keep clicking in order to see all the information. In fact, depending on how you view our page, we’ll even try to keep scrolling to a minimum. Some of our list, such as this one, are silly. Others, such as tomorrow’s, are quite serious. Either way, we hope you are informed and/or entertained without all the hassle of clickbait.

Now, for today’s topic: there are a lot of people running around out there trying to take pictures. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people running around taking lousy pictures. We have five reasons why that might be happening.

You can’t take your camera off auto

Your camera arrives from the factory with an auto setting. This is a lot like the little Instamatic film cameras of the 1960s and 70s. It’s acceptable for snapshots under well-lit conditions, but vary away from those conditions and the quality of the pictures degrades quickly. The solution: take the damn camera off auto and set the ISO, aperture, and lens speed manually! What, you’re camera doesn’t have a manual mode? That’s the manufacturer’s way of calling you stupid. They don’t think you’re smart enough to figure out how to work your own camera. You should suit them for defamation of character.

Your camera is really a phone

I already know I’m going to catch some shit for this one because there are a bunch of people running around who think that taking pictures with a cell phone and then manipulating them in Photoshop or some other program is a form of art. Bullshit. You’re still just taking a snapshot with your damn phone and I don’t care how many filters you apply it’s not going to make up for the fact it’s still a shitty picture. I mean, you can’t even hold it still enough to take a selfie without 37 tries! Come on! That’s not a camera! It’s more like a digital crayon. Get a real camera already!

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You don’t have a clue what aperture or ISO do

This is the reason your camera’s manufacturer didn’t give you a manual mode. They make image capturing devices for people like you who look at the ISO setting on a camera and think it’s pronounced EE-soh. No, it’s not. I. S. O. Think International Standards Organization. It’s a globally agreed-upon standard for how digital media responds to light. Aperture is how large the hole is in the lens that lets in light. Those are pretty fundamental settings for any camera and are critical to taking a good picture. If you don’t know those then there are probably a host of other things you probably don’t know. Consider taking a class or better yet find a professional willing to mentor you.

You think a frame is what goes on the wall

Ever notice how you keep cutting off people’s heads in your photos? Or that people look much smaller and further away in the picture than they did in person? There’s a reason for that: bad framing. Or maybe not framing at all. Framing is the ability to accurately get the things in the picture that you want in the picture at the size and in the position you want them. Framing takes practice, to be sure, but more than anything it requires actually looking through the viewfinder, not that preview screen on the back. The preview screen is an estimate and does not give you the framing accuracy that comes from looking through the viewfinder. Beyond that, practice, practice, practice!

You’re blind

Sight is fundamental, people. If you want to take good pictures, it really helps that you’re able to actually see what it is you’re photographing, unless you’re just really into for the abstract value, which you’re still not going to appreciate if you can’t see the finished photo, either. Vision is perhaps the most critical element of taking a picture!

I realize that seeing may seem inherent, but I can’t begin to tell you the number of people I’ve seen hold a camera up to their face and then close their eyes before snapping the shutter! Over and over, no matter how much I might try to help, they would close their eyes every damn time! I’m sorry, but if you’re not going to look at your subject then you shouldn’t be surprised or disappointed if the photo comes out looking differently than anticipated.

Of course, if you’re blind, you wouldn’t know either way, would you? So maybe it’s not such a big deal after all.

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PotD / Social Commentary

Not Quite Naked: Unspoken

May 23, 2015

Undisclosed (2011)

When women pose thoughtfully and artistically – in nothing but their bare skin – they find themselves. They discover that they are truly alive. They become a Nude. -David Allio

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]All this week we’ve been talking about being naked and how social media inherently dislikes anything too close to showing a nipple. We’ve talked about artistic purpose and artist intention and all the other topics that are inherent any time someone posts a picture that just might make those of impure thought a little uncomfortable. Fact is, no matter what kind of picture one puts online, there is always going to be someone who objects for one reason or another and someone else who is secretly perverting it in their own way. Nothing we do or say is ever going to change that.

What we can do, however, is make sure the act and conversation around being naked isn’t dominated by the negative. We don’t need to be shy about being comfortable in our own skin and no one has any right to judge or speak maliciously of someone who prefers to not wear clothes. Being naked should not be limited to works of art. People who enjoy living au naturale should be able to take selfies just like anyone else without needing to censor who they are or what they are doing. Nudity should be as casual a part of conversation as might be the coffee one had for breakfast this morning or replacing a belt on the vacuum cleaner. No one should be made to feel they have to hide such a normal part of who they are.

I have to admit that the conversation is doing better today than it was a mere 15 or so years ago. On the backside of the freewheeling 60s and 70s came a knee-jerk conservatism that had everyone buttoned up and anything that might be remotely considered sexual was demonized. If one was naked, the public perception was that one was also likely doing drugs and having sex with multiple people and not raising their children correctly. Discovery of HIV and the subsequent AIDS panic didn’t help because during that initial period where we weren’t sure exactly what caused the virus anything that could possibly be considered sexual, including kissing and holding hands, was demonized. Fear drove people to chastity.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Getting past those unrealistic and misinformed fears has been quite a chore but from that has come an even stronger urge to make being naked more socially acceptable. We’ve already discussed the Free The Nipple campaign, which is a wonderful thing, but there are also those who look at nudity as a form of expression to be protected under the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution and judges have begun upholding that right. Portland, Oregon’s annual Naked Run sounds like a lot of rebellious fun, but it is actually designed and intended as a means of peaceful protest, again protected by the Constitution. You have a right to be naked without that nudity being sexualized by someone whose own mind can’t be trusted.

Early in the 20th century, before all those stupid wars and politics got in the way, there was a strong naturist movement across Europe. During that period, doctors were actually prescribing patients to be naked, especially outdoors. The well-to-do would commonly hold tea parties on their patios that were completely sans clothing. Not only were these events largely asexual, but children were also included and there was no fear that a child seeing a naked adult might have any adverse effects. Quite the opposite was true. There was a greater acceptance of homosexuality and other lifestyles during this brief period than there has been at any time since.

Can we again achieve such a level of casual nakedness? I’m not too terribly optimistic just yet because the Internet has allowed those who would impose their own morality on the world a level of volume larger than their actual size. One thing of which I’m certain, though, is that being naked is not something that needs to remain unspoken. Be proud of who you are, the skin you are in, regardless of your size, age, or sexuality. And if someone doesn’t like that, allow them to go away and deal with their problem on their own. [/one_half_last]

Art / PotD

Not Quite Naked: Inherent

May 22, 2015

Mmmm, Chocolate (2012)

Modern pessimism denies the intrinsic beauty and replaces it with a subjective vision that cares little for the objective truth. In this thought the figure, whether nude or clothed, loses its form by putting more value on its symbolism than its actual form. That’s when you need a Rembrandt to step in a remind us of the value of content in its relation to form and beauty! -Shane Conant

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Everyone gets naked, but not everyone knows how to be nude. Being naked is inevitable; one bathes, one changes clothes, sooner or later naked happens to everyone. Being nude, though, requires a level of comfortability with being in one’s own skin. The person who is naked is more likely to run for cover is the doorbell rings while the person who is nude may go ahead and answer the door. The person who is naked is careful to keep the blinds closed and the curtains drawn while the nude individual enjoys the warm sunlight coming through the window. Being naked is inherent, but being nude is a choice.

Artists often focus on the nude, not the naked, and I think it is important that we understand the difference between the two not just in the personal sense but how it makes a difference in the basic condition of approaching a work of art. Art school is partially responsible for our focus on the nude because it necessarily looks at the figure first as an object to be drawn. Even some photography schools insist that their students first take figure drawing classes before moving on to other forms of photography. Understanding the basic mechanics of the nude form is essential to accurately portraying the figure in other settings.

At the same time, part of our need to find symbolism and meaning in the nude form comes from a defensive position wherein we feel the need to justify having an unclothed person in front of our lens or our canvas. Moral criticism of the nude, which by its very nature objectifies the body as a thing to be shamed, puts artists on guard and finds us looking for meaning in work that, such as today’s image, doesn’t necessarily need any additional meaning for it to be appreciated. [/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Insisting that there be meaning to every aspect of an image takes away one’s ability to enjoy the human figure for the natural work of art that it is. The human form does not require us to explain what makes it beautiful for it is beautiful beyond the ability of our words to describe. Imposing unintended symbolism on every image of a human form we see is just as improper as those who impose unnecessary morality upon everything that exists. Not everything requires our intervention or interpretation in order to be a work of art.

I very much like this quote from an artist who understood the difference between nude and naked:

Hitherto the nude has always been represented in poses which presuppose an audience. But my women are simple, honest creatures who are concerned with nothing beyond their physical occupations… it is as if you were looking through a keyhole. (Edgar Degas)

Dripping chocolate down a naked back has absolutely no symbolism, no greater meaning, no architectural inference. Mmmm, Chocolate is simply dripping chocolate down a naked back. That’s it. Nothing else. Any artistry comes naturally in the juxtaposition of light and dark, highlights and shadows, contrast and toning. One needn’t be an artist of great experience or full of profound thought in order to take this picture. Sometimes we don’t need any reason for capturing an image beyond the basic desire to capture that specific image. Art doesn’t always need an explanation or deeper meaning. Let art be art. Let naked be naked.[/one_half_last]

Art / PotD

Not Quite Naked: Latent

May 20, 2015

Shades Of Light (2012)

The gesture must be correct. If the gesture is correct, your mind really creates the reality of the figure, and it is not necessary to hang on all the rest [of the details]… -Nathan Oliveira

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]What is real? Philosophers have been attempting to tackle that question for centuries and have yet to come up with an answer that satisfies everyone. One thing is certain, though, that what we see may actually be the furthest thing from reality that we encounter. Our minds are too creative and fill in blanks, correct errors, and sometimes make up things that never existed in the first place. You’ve experienced this any time you’ve proofread a letter or paper, think you’ve removed any errors, only to have someone else find numerous misspellings and mistakes. Our eyes can be trusted; it’s our brains that alter reality to something more palatable.

Latent nudity preys upon the mind’s ability to create stories and images from a mere suggestion. What our eyes don’t quite see, that portion of an image that’s just barely hidden, our minds automatically fill. There’s not a nipple in the picture, but we think we see one. There’s a flaw in the background, but our eyes miss that entirely. Step away from the image, wait five or ten minutes, and then try to describe it to someone else. Chances are your description will be different, often dramatically more detailed, than what actually exists. We want to see more of the picture, so our amazingly powerful brains give us what we want.

Unfortunately, in a world where everyone has the ability to report images on social media, thereby imposing their morality on others without asking, creative minds that add things to pictures is not wonderful. How many thousands of pictures have been deleted mistakenly because, at first glance, someone thought they saw nudity when the person was actually wearing a swimsuit? How many thousands of people have had their accounts suspended because someone who just glanced at a picture reported it for something that wasn’t there? Social media’s morality policing fails because latent imagery tricks the mind and those inclined to be offended become so without cause.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]One of the many reasons art of any kind often fails online, and especially in social media, is because artistic images inherently require that we take time to study them. One doesn’t rush hurriedly through a museum, but we certainly don’t waste any time scrolling down our Facebook newsfeeds. We flip through images on Instagram or Tumblr with the same casual carelessness we would give an old magazine at the doctor’s office. The very nature of social media, which depends upon us consuming information in large quantities as quickly as possible, works against the needs of art to be studied and considered.

When social media first began, I went along with a large number of other photographers and artists who were anxious to display as many of our images as possible to what we were sure would be a waiting and appreciative world. Certainly, social media would provide us with the platform we needed to get our work noticed, to break out from the crowd, to finally get the attention we deserve. We dumped everything we could onto our social media pages to the point of excess. What we discovered was painful. No one looking at images online wanted to take the time to actually study a picture. Instead, they glance at a thumbnail, click some icon representing approval, and move on. Ten minutes later, they don’t remember the content of the pictures at all.

I am increasingly convinced that latent imagery, or any works that need to be studied to be fully appreciated, are best left to wall displays or books rather than social media presentations. Brains are not going to change the way they work simply because the results produce some level of angst or disappointment on my part. We can rail about artistic insensitivity and failure to pay attention all we want, but we don’t have the ability to change what the mind does automatically. We can’t change reality. We don’t even know what reality is.[/one_half_last]

Art / PotD

Not Quite Naked: Implicit

May 19, 2015

Reflections of Now (2012)

The living model, the naked body of a woman, is the privileged seat of feeling, but also of questioning… The model must mark you, awaken in you an emotion which you seek in turn to express. -Henri Matisse

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]It’s not especially easy being naked before someone you don’t really know; at least, not for most people. You stand there, exposed, feeling every slight draft of air on your skin, wondering if they’ve noticed that scar on your thigh from when you were six years old and got caught on the barbed-wire fence. You wonder not if but how they’re judging you: are your breasts too small or large or shaped funny? Is your skin splotchy? Can they tell how much you suddenly need to go to the bathroom? How do you tell them your period just started without being embarrassed? Why is this taking so long?

For all the hoopla they sometimes create, especially in social media, implicit art nudes, or art nudes of any kind, are so far removed from anything sexual as to make the imposition of a sexual comment laughable. Artists, whether painters or sculptors or photographers, are consumed with the details of how to recreate or represent the totality of what is before them. Models are more than flesh and bone, but an architecture of emotion, experience, beauty, and humanity. How does one accurately capture all that in a single image in a way that communicates to the viewer everything the artist is feeling? The model, on the other hand, wonders if the pose looks as silly as it feels, if maybe she shouldn’t have had that burrito for lunch, and if she’s going to be done in time to let the dogs out before they mess on the carpet.

What implicit nudes do to the viewer, though, is challenge one’s perception of what is versus what may be. If one comes to an image from the perspective that all things are sexual, then one is going to perceive a sexuality where none was intended. If one approaches an image while consumed with a given emotion, one is going to find that emotion first and perhaps dominantly within the image regardless of what the artist sought to communicate. One of the greatest challenges in working with nudes is that the artist can only control what’s happening, what’s seen, what’s felt, what’s intended, as the image is created. We do not control the viewer’s experience.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Great art, some argue, is that which communicates its intended purpose regardless of when, where, or under what conditions it is viewed. When multiple generations of people look at a piece of art and come away with the same or at least similar understanding then the artist did their job well and the work is worthy of commendation. Yet, all one has to do is show a five-year-old a picture of Michaelangelo’s David (assuming one probably isn’t close enough to visit the real thing), to see that one’s perspective of art is learned, not inherent. Amidst a flurry of giggles, they will gleefully point out that David is missing his pants. Depending on the child, “Ewwwwww” is likely to be their artistic critique.

That is not to say that great art does not inherently stir emotion within most everyone; there is a sense of awe that comes with standing in front of a painting so incredibly detailed as to seemingly lift off the canvas. A photograph carefully lit to emphasize a specific element while keeping other details shadowed draws us close and raises our curiosity. Abstract sculpture leads us to contemplate our perceptions of shape and construction even when we don’t understand those factors at all. Art does not require an education to have an impact on its viewer.

Art does require, however, that we approach it openly, honestly, recognizing our personal biases but having the ability to set aside that bias to see more of what the artist desired to communicate. Nowhere is that more true than with an implicit nude. There is much to be said in today’s picture about self-examination, self-esteem, and self-worth. We might ponder what the girl feels about the reflection she sees in the mirror, and how we feel when we look at our own reflection. Emotions in this image may run deep if the viewer is willing to take that risk.

If all one is seeing is sex, the problem doesn’t lie with the image but with the person viewing it.[/one_half_last]

Art / Photography / PotD

Not Quite Naked: Tacit

May 18, 2015

Beautiful nudes made it possible for us to contemplate our sexuality in safety. -Martha Mayer Erlebacher

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]”Don’t tag me in these, my family wouldn’t understand.”

I’ve gotten that request often from models since social media became prominent, and not always in regard to nudity. There have been times when the request came simply because the person feared her family’s response to her modeling. Other times because the clothing was so very different from what they normally wore. And at least one time because the model feared her family would think she wasn’t taking her college courses seriously. Social media’s ability to expose our “secrets” to the rest of the world has had a dramatic effect in how people behave, or at least choose to present themselves, when they’re online.

Not that such concerns are entirely new, mind you. Horst P. Horst related the story of one instance where a husband became very upset that Horst had taken pictures of his wife and threatened to kill both the photographer and the wife. This was back before professional models existed, forcing photographers to pull from their social contacts for subjects. Horst had photographed the young woman unaware that her husband had any concerns. Once the photo showed up in Vogue magazine, however, the husband was outraged and accused his spouse of having an affair with the photographer. What made that accusation all the more outlandish was the fact that Horst was unapologetically gay and everyone knew it. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed and no one was harmed.

Still, public reaction to anything remotely resembling nudity is surprisingly severe given how we’re supposed to be so incredibly “enlightened” now. Just this past week, I observed a comment under the photo of a young woman in a relatively modest bikini chastising the girl for “lowering” herself by posing in such a way. The model was, understandably, offended and quickly corrected the commenter. Other friends have had pictures of them nursing their newborn reported to the morality police. Instagram even removed fashion week runway photos if there was a hint of nipple exposed. Social media has become the arbiter of a false morality that works against the very idea of an open and well-educated society. We find it much easier to respond from ignorance than to seek understanding.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]I am convinced that the major reason for such excessive reaction to tacit nudity is that images remotely focusing on the human body stir questions of one’s own sexuality within those who have never fully dealt with the subject. For those raised in sexually oppressive environments, the mere thought of anything sexual scares the living shit right out of them because they don’t have the emotional or intellectual tools necessary to even begin dealing with the subject. People sexually oppressed, whether due to social constraints, religion, or any other number of factors, fail to understand sexuality as anything more than a means of procreation. Therefore, anything that creates any kind of emotion outside that very narrow realm must, in their minds, be wrong.

We are afraid of ourselves. We’re not really afraid of gays as much as we are afraid we might be gay. We’re not really afraid of those who are sexually open as much as we are afraid of our own rampant promiscuity being let loose. We’re not nearly as offended by public displays of affection as much as we struggle to control our own desires to do the kissing. How many dozens of times over the past ten years have we seen instances where legislators who have been most boisterous in their railing against gays and lesbians are later caught in a same-gender relationship? How many hundreds of times have those who preach against promiscuity been caught having affairs? We understand so little about our sexuality that it frightens us to violence against it.

America needs to get itself to a therapist. What we fear in ourselves ultimately does harm to others. In fighting against what we refuse to honestly confront we oppress others who have a need and a desire to learn. When we prevent people from understanding more about themselves we limit their potential in all areas of their lives. While one might make the argument that they have the right to screw up their own lives, one absolutely does not, under any circumstances, have the right to screw up the lives of others.

Get a grip, America. Face your fears. The world is tacitly naked and that’s a good thing.[/one_half_last]

Photography / PotD / Social Commentary

Not Quite Naked: Implied

May 17, 2015

INTENSITY (2012)

“When I met her you could tell she was on the verge. She was a girl becoming a woman. We took those pictures and I thought she looked so beautiful and having a little bit of an edge to her. She loved doing the pictures, and she was made to feel bad for doing them.” Photographer Annie Leibovitz in LA Times interview with Steve Appleford, April 19, 2014. Annie Leibovitz talks Taschen book, Miley Cyrus, John & Yoko

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]In the world of television there is this annual ritual called The Upfronts. This is where networks show samples, sometimes whole episodes, of what they plan on broadcasting in the fall in hopes that advertising executives will encourage their clients to purchase ad time during these programs. Upfronts are a huge party with a huge payoff and networks typically spare no expense trotting out their biggest stars in order to impress the host of advertising and media bigwigs assembled.

So, it was with interest I watch as Adult Swim announced Miley Cyrus was going to be performing this past week at their Upfronts. There was no way this wasn’t going to be interesting and sure enough, Miley didn’t disappoint. In case you’ve not already seen the pictures, she came on stage wearing a giant set of butterfly wings and not much else. Her breasts were fully exposed, her nipples covered with butterfly pasties. She wore a pair of white tights as well, but under the stage lights seeing through those wasn’t terribly difficult. For all practical purposes, she may as well have been naked. What was obvious was the fact that Miley was having fun and the rather uptight advertising suits were more than a little uncomfortable, especially when she told them where to lick her.

All this brought me back to 2008 when Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz shot a 15-year-old Miley with only her back exposed. You would have thought she had shot Hanna Montana live on the evening news for all the furor it created. Annie was demonized by practically every outlet on the planet for daring to “sexualize” a young woman in such a way. Miley was forced to apologize (and then later recanted). Vanity Fair threatened to not pay for the pictures. Everyone wondered if Annie’s famed career was over and what would happen to Miley as a result of this “horrible abuse.”

Well, now we know, don’t we?[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Americans don’t know how to handle the nude form. Little difference is made for efforts made toward being socially appropriate or artistically posed; Americans see bare skin and automatically achieve a state of hyper-hysteria that causes them to have difficulty breathing, blurred vision, and an unrealistic fear of judgement from the late Jerry Falwell. Just the notion that a person may not have been wearing clothes when a photograph was taken causes those who feel they must protect the innocence of the world to become absolutely apoplectic. There’s no attempt to understand, no regard for artistry, they’re just angry.

At least, until they think no one is looking. I watch with routine amusement as my website stats fluctuate from day to day. On days when the #POTD is a landscape, hardly anyone pays attention; numbers are in the cellar. Days when the #POTD is an attractive young person see a more respectable hit count based largely on how popular that particular model might be. Let me post a picture that hints at nudity though, even if it’s implied, and watch the traffic soar! This isn’t unique to my site but is an exact reflection of traffic patterns across the Internet. If you want attention, post a picture of someone naked.

Social media hypocritically decries nudity while at the same time enjoying the fact that even there a little skin increases their traffic. They’ve each re-written their rules over time to allow for as much skin as possible without actually giving into allowing “real” nudity. So, it is in deference to Facebook and other such sites that we’re focusing this week on photos that are not quite naked. You won’t see any nipples. For that matter, you won’t always even catch side boob. Our goal is to give one reason to think about the artistry of the human body and just how messed up society’s reaction is. We hope you’ll join us. We hope you’ll think.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Conversation

May 16, 2015

Conversation (2014)

“It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.” ― Dave Barry

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Some of the most pleasant memories from my childhood are of accompanying my late father to the donut shop on those rare mornings during the summer months when he’d actually let me go. Most days he went alone because for him this wasn’t necessarily a pleasure trip; it was work. I understand him not wanting to drag a child along with him every time; the effectiveness would have been lost. Yet, I was always amazed by what inevitably happened.

We would walk into the little donut shop, a tiny place that couldn’t have been more than 500 square feet in size, and everyone knew who he was. “Hey, Preacher!” they’d call. “Who’s that little devil ya’ got with ya’?” He would place our order: a maple glazed long john and coffee for him, a french cruller and chocolate milk for me. We’d sit at a table with a group of men I didn’t know, and then I would lose my father. He’d sit there in conversation for the next hour while I nibbled at my cruller. I knew better than to interrupt. When finished, we’d head for the door and one of the men would inevitably say something about maybe seeing us on Sunday. Rarely did that happen, but occasionally it would.

That is how I learned that about the power of coffee as a conversation tool. More than just a vital drink to keep us going during the day, coffee is a substance that gives us the ability to bond with people we’ve never met, individuals with whom we might have absolutely nothing else in common except our love for that hot caffeinated beverage. I’ve had conversations with complete strangers, people I didn’t know and would never see again, run deep and philosophical, sometimes even confessional, over a cup of coffee. There have been romantic moments, moments of great debate, and periods of comfort that never would have happened were it not for the shared love of coffee.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]I have long made coffee shops my preferred place for meeting new people, partly because they’re very public and therefore somewhat safer, but also because I know the power of coffee to get people to talk. I can’t explain it; I don’t understand the psychological reasons for why strangers joined together over a beverage are more likely to be conversant than in situations where nothing is available. What I know is that it happens, people relax even to the point they become animated in their conversation, all while holding a cup of coffee.

There have been hundreds if not thousands of conversations over coffee over the years, but it still the ones with Poppa that I remember the most.

“I think I might be in love,” I remember telling him for the first time.
He looked into his coffee and said, “Love doesn’t require a lot of thought, either it is or it isn’t. You just know.”

Then, there was the time, after sitting through half a cup, I told him, “I’m leaving the church. I don’t like how it’s changed.”
“I’m not surprised,” he said, to my surprise. “Just remember that while the church may change, God doesn’t.”

Finally, there was that last cup of coffee. His was decaf. With tears in his eyes, he said, “You know, this is probably the last time we get to do this (have coffee together).”
I choked back my own tears. “Maybe so, but you’ve given me enough great memories to last through a lifetime of coffee.”

Coffee seems like such a simple beverage, but there’s no question in my mind that it changes lives unlike any other drink we encounter. So here’s to coffee, and conversations, and great memories. May they all be part of our lives forever.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Coffee Break

May 15, 2015

Coffee Break (2010)

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from – or how you feel… There’s always peace in a strong cup of coffee.” ― Gabriel Bá, Daytripper

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Americans are resourceful, especially when it comes to even the briefest moment of leisure. When labor unions first negotiated a 40-hour work week, the only break in the day was for lunch, and even that was brief. That just wouldn’t fly for a workforce that was not only addicted to caffeine, but cigarettes as well. So, it wasn’t long until the coffee break was introduced and workplaces all over the nation were transformed. The break room was introduced, styrofoam cups were invented, and non-dairy powdered creamer was hailed as the best invention of the 20th century. Next came sugar packets, plastic stirrers, and eventually lids with perforated fold-back tabs so the coffee could be consumed without as much danger of a spill.

All because of the coffee break. Ostensibly, vending machines probably owe some of their success to coffee breaks as well, though their initial placement was elsewhere. Coffee breaks have taken on a life, and ingenuity, of their own. While rules vary from company to company, federal law still mandates two fifteen minute breaks for every eight hours worked, in addition to a minimum of 30 minutes for lunch. Even for those very strange and bothersome people who don’t drink coffee, we all need a moment to step away from what we’re doing, stretch our limbs, let our mind relax and wander a bit. A cup of coffee, especially in the middle of the afternoon as we’re starting to hit that post-lunch slump, keeps us fresh.

Efficiency experts, of course, hate any kind of departure from the grind and have tried since the beginning to find ways of minimizing the impact of coffee breaks on production. Carefully positioning of break rooms, staggered break times, and even some humorous attempts at automating coffee delivery have been attempted with varying degrees of success. Evil managers have attempted to bogart coffee breaks as well, delivering new assignments mere seconds before one was about to leave their desk. There’s no end to what mean people will do to keep us from our coffee.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Ultimately, though, those desperate attempts at interference are short-lived and we find ways to obtain the hot nectar we so desperately need to survive our work days. Smart companies who at least pretend to care about their employees, or at least do care about retention rates, have installed full-service coffee shops on the premises. Other companies, where such a luxury might be slightly impractical, arrange for custom delivery at scheduled times of the day. Increasingly, intelligent employers, those who bother to understand how productivity really works, understand that the coffee break is crucial to employee satisfaction and the quality of work that they do.

Today’s picture represents how that even someone whose work schedule is more relaxed still needs a moment to step outside and enjoy a cup from the nearest coffee shop, shoes not necessarily being a requirement. Forced outside because of her cigarette, and with no convenient place to sit, she still finds that moment of respite balanced carefully on her toes, alternating between sipping on her coffee and taking a drag from her cigarette. While the scene is rather contemporary, and the pose somewhat unique, she is still engaging in that time-honored tradition that is just as much a part of the industrial revolution as is the conveyor belt.

Coffee breaks are such a standard part of our day now that I fear some may actually take them for granted. Yet, without them a great deal of work and creativity would be lost. Certainly, most photographers I’ve known over the years are totally worthless without a nearly constant flow of caffeine coming at them, and the same holds true for the majority of creatives I’ve met. I’ve also noticed a high number of attorneys and physicians chugging their coffee between court dates or surgeries. Even the most professional people need a break.

And now, having read all this, I think you probably deserve a break, too. Don’t you?[/one_half_last]

PotD

Casual

May 14, 2015

The Earliest Morning (2010)

“I sipped my own coffee, heavy on the sugar and cream, trying to make up for the late work the night before. Caffeine and sugar, the two basic food groups.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Cerulean Sins

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I find it interesting how different drinks impose a social setting upon a situation. Champagne is obviously the most formal, being reserved for truly special occasions. Wine comes next, with the vintage and type determining just how uptight and restrictive the conversation should be. Tea, English style, probably comes next; I find it impossible to sip from china cups without extending my pinky. Everything else is more casual, beer being at the bottom of the list with its perpetual “I don’t give a fuck” attitude.

Coffee holds a unique place in that list, though, not truly formal even when served in the best of china cups, but not quite as insouciant as cocktails. There’s an implied comfortableness around coffee that is friendly, perhaps even neighborly, but still leaves room for serious conversation. We serve coffee at important meetings to help everyone relax and focus on the task at hand. We serve coffee after dinner, though, to reduce the formality of the evening and introduce a period of more relaxed conversation. Coffee’s ability to bridge social gaps is invaluable.

Where coffee may be the most useful, though, is in those moments where one is sitting with someone else and you don’t know quite what to say. Maybe you’re strangers thrust awkwardly together at a party. Perhaps you’re lovers who are not quite sure of the next step in your relationship. A parent and adult child sitting at a table trying to figure out how to breach that painful topic no one wants to discuss. Coffee is perfect for those moments, sitting there with a warm cup or mug between your hands, staring down into the darkness, maybe stirring it with a spoon just so there’s something making noise. Coffee is patient. Coffee allows you the time you need to find just the right words.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]For years, I’ve put coffee in the middle of meeting new people. I consider it a test of character, among other things. How a person orders their coffee says a lot about them, I think. Enough so that we can put them into groups.

People who are serious about business tend to drink their coffee black and the busiest of people, I’ve noticed, order an Americano so it’s not quite as hot and easier to drink on the run. These people are not going to have long conversations so get to the point.

When someone orders extra shots in their drink they’re almost certainly night owls, or at the very least people who forgo sleep for either business or pleasure. The downside is that keeping their attention may be difficult.

Occasionally I’ll come across someone who is fussy as hell about how their coffee is prepared, giving the barista special instructions. Be careful around those people; they’re not so much perfectionists as they are just difficult to please.

People who add a lot of sugar and flavoring, though, are more easy-going, more socially oriented, and almost never in a hurry. Find a comfy chair and settle down, these people are ready to talk.

In many ways, coffee is the great equalizer of drinks, enjoyable regardless of one’s social or economic status and generally accessible even when nothing else is appropriate. Coffee doesn’t require a certain style of dress, or being dressed at all for that matter (just be careful about spills), and there’s no requirement for a given manner of speech. Coffee invites everyone to relax and be themselves, and that is invaluable.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Unfiltered

May 13, 2015

Model: Cynthia Schmidt (2010)

“Let me wake up next to you, have coffee in the morning and wander through the city with your hand in mine, and I’ll be happy for the rest of my fucked up little life.” ― Charlotte Eriksson, Empty Roads & Broken Bottles; in search for The Great Perhaps

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Some people put cream and sugar in their coffee. I’m not one of them. Some people put water in their coffee and call it an Americano. That doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest. I prefer my coffee black, strong, and hot enough to burn my lips on the first sip. I’m just rather crazy that way. I don’t want anything interfering with my coffee in any way. Give me my coffee unfiltered and we’ll be just fine, thank you very much.

How we prepare coffee, in general, has changed dramatically over the years. Coffee was once boiled on top of a wood burning stove, a process that was aromatic, but tended to result in a lot of burned coffee. There are still modern ceramic pots that duplicate that effect, with the presumed side effect that one is actually watching the range top a little more closely now. James Mason invented the percolator in 1865, a device that used heat to pour hot water over the grounds. Eventually, the design was modified and made electric and by the 1950s there was hardly a house in America that didn’t have one. For special events, there was even the giant two- or five-gallon size that would brew enough coffee for an entire platoon.

Commercially, though, the Bunn company had a lock on brewing coffee that was faster, and in many opinions, better. They invented a machine that was connected to the water supply, so coffee was always ready to go at the push of a button, great for restaurants and all the coffee shops that were beginning to pop up across the country. The Bunn heated the water first, then poured it over the coffee grounds which were sitting in a filtered basket. Coffee would then drip down into a waiting carafe. When Mr. Coffee introduced a home version of this machine in 1972, with baseball great Joe DiMaggio as the spokesperson, it changed the look of American kitchens and killed the percolator. [/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Dedicated coffee houses also started popping up during the 70s and with that came more specialized types of brewing. All of a sudden, people started caring about where their coffee was sourced, how it was roasted, what blend of beans were used, and how it was ground. Espresso machines were popping up in all the coffee shops, replacing the Bunn in anything that wasn’t a full-service restaurant. People began requesting their coffee to be personalized, specialized, steamed, stirred, and boosted with an extra shot.

Personally, I prefer my French Press for a couple of reasons. First, I find the plunger style of coffee brewing to be more flavorful without risking burning the coffee. The carafe never sits on heat so there’s no chance the coffee is going to slowly turn into sludge. Second, and perhaps most importantly, I can do it at home, any time of day.

I seriously don’t understand people who don’t brew their own coffee. Consider today’s picture. Would this scenario have happened if one had to get dressed and run to the nearest Starbucks for coffee? While I suppose it’s possible, it certainly wouldn’t be likely, and definitely not convenient. I’m all for coffee shops, mind you; I spend a great deal of time in them. But I want that first cup of coffee in the morning to be like love: unfiltered and something I can cherish privately to myself or share with someone intimately.

We get rather religious about our coffee now. Everyone wants it prepared their way, we want it to taste the same no matter where we are. No matter how you prefer to have your coffee, though, there’s no question that our love for the beverage is unfiltered.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Morning Meditation

May 12, 2015

Model: Lisa Marie (2010)

When you wash your hands, when you make a cup of coffee, when you’re waiting for the elevator – instead of indulging in thinking, these are all opportunities for being there as a still, alert presence. -Eckhart Tolle

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Quiet. It took me more than a few years to get the concept, but once I did it became a permanent part of my life. There’s a reason my alarm goes off long before anyone else needs to get up. There’s a reason to not turn on the television or indulge in the morning’s playlist. Peace. Quiet. Meditation. This is the start to a day that is likely to not return to this quiet moment.

Like all the better habits I have, I picked this one up from my father. He would get up between 4:00 and 4:30 of the morning, make coffee, and sit in his recliner in the living room reading his Bible, usually looking over something related to his next sermon. I remember lying in bed, listening to the sound and savoring the aroma of the coffee brewing in the percolator. This was Poppa’s quiet time. Even if we were awake, we knew better than to get up and disturb him. The daily paper would show up around 5 or so and he would then switch over to that about the time he was ready for his second cup. He enjoyed the time he had each morning that was generally undisturbed. There was little chance of the phone ringing. Rarely did anyone knock at that hour, either. This was his time, a moment to clear his head of whatever was leftover from the previous day and mentally prepare for the day ahead.

Poppa understood the inherent value of starting the day with a quiet moment and a good cup of coffee. We wake in the morning, fresh from dreams that likely made little sense, worries left from the previous day, our mind cluttered with the jumble of all we have to do, and if we’re not careful we can too easily find ourselves lost in a sea of confusion and doubt before our day ever begins. Just sitting, in the quiet, with a cup of coffee to warm our throats and clear out the nighttime rust, can completely change our entire outlook and demeanor for the day.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]For many years, early morning was my time alone with the newspaper. I would start with the most important stories on the front page, but then turn immediately to the comics section, unless it was the New York Times in which case the Style section was equally amusing. Mindless frivolent activity, perhaps, but the comics provided a smile at the start of the day, helped create an attitude that, regardless of what trouble might be on the front page, there was always some reason to laugh. Over the years, of course, my newspaper moved online, and the comics have been replaced with things like Tumblr and Twitter feeds. Still, the importance of this quiet time is sacred.

If today’s picture looks familiar, I’ve used a companion shot from the same set earlier this year. Lisa did a great job of capturing a variety of emotions as she sat there with the coffee cup in her hands. I find the shot, in this case, to perfectly capture the peace and calm that comes with morning meditation. There’s nothing else going on, nothing fancy or sparkling to offer a distraction, just a simple moment with a beautiful face and a cup of coffee.

Our world is nothing short of chaotic and our lives are constantly barraged by everything and everyone wanting our attention. Once children and spouses are up and running, finding a moment to one’s self is almost impossible. That first cup of coffee in the morning is our chance to prepare, not to become mired in the challenges of the day, but a moment to just be, to remember who we are, why we are here, and how truly gracious is the gift of life, and coffee. Morning meditation is as important as that first cup, and holds the power to shape our day.[/one_half_last]

PotD

Caffeine!

May 11, 2015

Need More Coffee (2011)

We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup. -Jerry Seinfeld

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I can’t imagine most days without coffee though since I’ve been sick the past week my consumption has declined quite a bit. The thought of a Monday without coffee, though, borders on something outrageous; it’s just wrong. There should never be a Monday without coffee, lots and lots of coffee. We don’t give up our weekends, nor their effects, easily or quietly. To be forced out of a comfortable bed that loves you and makes you feel safe into a world that is prickly and mean and leaves you feeling rotten requires some significant gesture on the part of the universe to coax us into even slipping our feet from under the covers. Coffee is what lures us out into the world, and it is caffeine that makes it happen.

Not that caffeine always works. As I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed that a single cup doesn’t quite have the same effect as it once did. Two cups are generally required of the morning now just to get me to the point where I’m not biting off heads and feeding small children to the lions. I can drink a cup of coffee with lunch and still have no problem taking a nap. Coffee after dinner? Absolutely! It takes more than one cup to keep me from passing out by 11. While not every body responds to caffeine exactly the same way there’s little question that our bodies adapt to regular caffeine intake and any deviation from that may cause unwanted side effects.

Heaven help the soul who comes between someone and their first cup of coffee on a Monday morning. I’ll admit to being grumpy of the morning, but I try to keep myself away from innocent bystanders at least until that first cup has kicked in. I’m fortunate, though, in that I can brew my own and be happy. Apparently, there are millions of people who can’t brew coffee and are forced to purchase that first cup. I’m sure you’ve seen the lines snaking around every coffee shop drive-thru, and Monday’s are the worst. I’m somewhat surprised that there aren’t more incidents of road rage on Mondays, but there seems to be little question that Western Civilization might crumble if everyone couldn’t get coffee on their way into work.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Why do we need that caffeine and what does it do to/for us? Well, consider some of these facts:

Dopamine released from the caffeine in coffee is a mood booster, a 2013 study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting finds. Getting caffeine from other sugary sources does not have the same effect.
A study published in American Journal of Epidemiology shows those who drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day cut their risk of Oral Cancer in half!
Natural sources of caffeine, such as coffee, are what provide the antioxidants that aid in alertness and other health benefits. Artificial drinks such as soda and energy drinks do not provide the same benefits and can be dangerous to some health conditions.
Coffee increases our recognition and reception of positive words, according to a German study, making it a little easier for us to get along with those perpetually friendly people who greet everyone with a smile.
Recent reports show that caffeine from coffee may reduce allergic reactions due to caffeine’s ability to reduce the concentration of histamines that cause the body to respond negatively to a substance.

A lot of the negative stereotypes about caffeine in coffee, such as it increasing blood pressure and contributing to heart disease, have proven to be false. In fact, the health risks related to moderate caffeinated coffee consumption are extremely small, certainly much less than anything else you might pick up from that drive-thru window. You’re likely doing yourself, and the universe, a favor by having a cup or two.

So here’s to Monday morning coffee and the sanity that comes from being well caffeinated before having to actually deal with real people. Pour yourself another cup. Sit back. Take a few deep breaths. Everyone will thank you.[/one_half_last]

PotD / Social Commentary

The Joys of Coffee

May 10, 2015

At The Coffee Shop (2011)

If it wasn’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever. -David Letterman

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Yes, I’m well aware that today is Mother’s Day in the US and yes I’ve shot enough mothers and children to have given that the theme for the whole week. That’s rather crowded territory today, though, and if you’re sitting on your computer or mobile device reading this then you’re obviously not spending time with your mother, for reasons we won’t discuss, so we decided to go a very different direction for this week and talk about something that is near and dear to my own heart: Coffee.

I have been drinking coffee since I was 14. Granted, I didn’t drink as much of it then as I do now, and I tended to dump loads of sugar and milk in it until Poppa caught me and said if I were going to drink the stuff I had to drink it straight. I think he was hoping that would put me off and that I’d stop, but it didn’t. I learned to drink it black and enjoy the flavor of the bean itself, not all the flavor and garbage dumped on top. To this day, I fail to understand the fascination with lattes and cappuccinos and other fancy coffee-based drinks. I suppose there’s nothing wrong if you really like all that sweetness and confection actually in your coffee. I prefer my coffee black, a bold roast if you please, something of moderate acidity.

Coffee drinking has taken a lot of heat over the years (pardon the pun). I was told it would stunt my growth, that it would damage my kidneys, and that it could lead to more dangerous addictions (yes, a dear old church lady actually told me that). Some religions forbid the drinking of coffee because of its caffeine (they’d rather their members not be too alert). Like anything else we try to enjoy, there’s always someone right there waiting to tell us we shouldn’t. We tend to ignore those people.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Instead, we prefer to consider facts that say things like:

Coffee is the biggest source of antioxidants in the Western diet
A single cup of coffee contains 11% of the daily recommended amount of Riboflavin (vitamin B2), 6% of Pantothenic Acid (vitamin B5), 3% of Manganese and Potassium, and 2% of Niacin and Magnesium.
Drinking coffee can increase your metabolism 3 to 11%.
Coffee drinkers are up to 65% less likely to get Alzheimer’s Disease.
People who drink four cups of coffee a day are 80% less likely to develop cirrhosis.

What may be most compelling about coffee in today’s society, though, is its qualities as an object of social construct. Coffee shops have become the meeting place for everything from first dates to important business meetings. Today’s picture, made somewhat humorous by the expressions on the men’s faces, is an example of coffee’s social attraction. A large storm had just swept through the area, flooding streets and knocking out power. Anyone in the neighborhood when the storm hit was just stuck. There was no getting out. Where did they go? The coffee shop. Their large carafes of coffee were already full and an honor box let patrons pay without needing a cash register. The coffee shop offered comfort, safety, friendship. and a place to pretend to get work done.

So here’s to coffee, the good and bad and everything else we’ll talk about this week. Now, put down your phone and go talk to your mother. Maybe over a cup of coffee.[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

My Romance

May 9, 2015

I’m still more comfortable with standards than with my own songs. –Carly Simon

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I had some difficulty choosing today’s photo because, while I knew I wanted to end the week with a picture of Kat, there were just so many choices that it took a while to decide which one to use. I do try to be careful in not over-using photos of Kat, which would be easy to do. While it’s conveniently wonderful that she’s here and ready to shoot at the drop of a hat, and gets excited about most any concept I toss at her, there’s little benefit for anyone else in seeing the same face over and over again. Still, I love her, she’s beautiful, and every photo she takes reminds me of a song.

One of my greatest joys is listening to Kat sing while she’s working. She tends to be a bit shy about that, you won’t catch her singing out in public any time soon, but when the office door is shut, no one but the cats are looking, she’ll start one of the playlists I have saved and begin singing along, perfectly, beautifully. She knows all the words to the Beatles catalog. She knows most the words to the standards. 70s and 80s rock, all the stuff written before she was born, she knows and enjoys. You’ll hear the clicking of the keys on her laptop, then soon, her soft, smooth, gentle voice makes its way out under the door, wanders casually down the hall, and massages my ear. Her voice makes me smile just as quickly as the sight of her face.

I am convinced that the quality of any voice can be found in how they sing the standards. With contemporary music relying so heavily on digital trickery, it’s telling when all the samples and tracks and background noise is removed leaving nothing but a gentle melody line and a haunting refrain. Many people were astonished when Lady Gaga paired with perennial standards hit man Tony Bennet and demonstrated that she could hit a hot jazz lick as well as anyone. Singing standards well isn’t as easy as it sounds. I listen to Kat as the playlist moves from Carly Simon to the BeeGees to Madonna and she rarely misses a beat. Hearing her lilting soprano accurately move between styles and rhythms is one of those things that makes even the worst of days feel better. [/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]My Romance is one of those songs from Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart that comes from an otherwise forgettable musical and subsequently forgettable movie by the same name, Jumbo. How a story about an elephant and a traveling circus can yield such a beautiful song, sung in the movie by Doris Day, is one of those Rodgers and Hart tricks that’s difficult to understand. The song has been covered well over 100 times, but it’s Carly Simon’s version I hear Kat singing so that’s the one we’re using today.

My romance doesn’t need a castle rising in Spain
Or a dance to a constantly surprising refrain
Wide awake I can make my most fantastic dreams come true
My romance doesn’t need one thing, but you

So I’m being a little sappy with today’s photo and song. You’re probably lucky I didn’t choose this route all week. Enjoy.

[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Something To Talk About

May 8, 2015

We’ve been together seven years now. He’s great, but that’s all I can say. You know, [it’s like] the Sippie Wallace song that goes, “Don’t advertise your man.” [Bonnie Raitt interview with Roger Friedman for Parade Magazine, Bonnie Raitt on Taking Control, Staying Sober, and Being Kissed by an Angel April 8, 2012]

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]There’s nothing quite like social media to fuel the rumor mill. All it takes is one tweet or one meme from one person and, like wildfire, the statement takes off around the world on the assumption that it’s true, without anyone actually bothering to check that it is. As a result, we’re told celebrities are dead that aren’t, people said things they didn’t, and hook-ups and break-ups that never happened. We are so eager to find out every last detail, and to be the first to know it, that the truth just sits quietly on the sidelines waiting for someone to notice it.

This Bonnie Raitt song was written before Twitter or Facebook or even the Internet were ever on the scene, but it still captures that bad habit that has likely been around as long as humans started assembling into tribes. There’s even a commandment against gossiping: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” My late father complained that was the most frequently violated commandment within the church, and even from behind the pulpit. The song’s attitude of defiance reflects how much we’ve come to accept the fact that people are going to talk no matter what we do. No matter how straight-laced and careful one is, there’s always someone else who’s jealous, or perhaps downright mean, or thinks they can somehow improve their own social standing by gossiping about others.

The song was playing in my mind the entire time we were shooting this set. The girls are not actually romantically connected at all, but what if they were? Would you be shocked? Supportive? Disgusted? Happy for them? A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that 61 percent of Americans would support a gay person running for President and 58 percent are hoping the Supreme Court rules in favor of equal marriage rights. The very concept that one girl might love another isn’t nearly as provocative or surprising as it was even five years ago. Still when a couple kisses in public, or demonstrates any sign of affection, it gets our attention and the rumor mill starts doing its dirty work.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Written by Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eickhard, the song is actually as much as about shy love as it is gossip. Person A likes Person B, Person B likes Person A, but neither one quite knows how to tell the other. By the second verse, the singer realizes there’s no denying what the rumors have been alleging all this time.

I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You act so nervous, could you be fallin’ for me?
It took the rumor to make me wonder,
Now I’m convinced that I’m goin’ under.
Thinkin’ ’bout you every day,
dreamin’ ’bout you every night.
I’m hopin’ that you feel the same way,
Now that we know it, let’s really show it darlin’.

As we approach the weekend, perhaps this is a good time to let that carefree, rumors-be-damned attitude take over. Certainly, if you love someone, or even think you might have feelings for them, there’s no good reason to not say something. People are going to talk either way, so why not just go ahead and give them something to talk about?

And make it good and steamy while you’re at it.

[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Blackbird

May 7, 2015

I was in Scotland playing on my guitar, and I remembered this whole idea of “you were only waiting for this moment to arise” was about, you know, the black people’s struggle in the southern states, and I was using the symbolism of a blackbird. It’s not really about a blackbird whose wings are broken, you know, it’s a bit more symbolic. [Paul McCartney, Interview with KCRW’s Chris Douridas, 25 May 2002 episode of New Ground]

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]I could probably have done the whole week on Beatles’ songs, and maybe somewhere down the line I will. Paul McCartney and John Lennon were especially good at using visual metaphors to get across a message, sometimes subtly, other times rather blatantly, and still leave one with a tune worth humming for the whole of the day. The Beatles’ catalog is a treasure trove of photographic possibilities, but one of the things I find interesting is how the meanings of the songs have morphed and changed over the years. Political situations that were obvious and well-known when a song was written are now more obscure, but in their place the songs pick up new issues that speak just as loudly to a current generation as they did fifty years ago.

Blackbird is one of those songs. Sir Paul, who actually did most the writing, meant for the song to recognize the burgeoning civil rights movement. For many black people across the United States, it seemed that their time had come. The symbolism of the broken wing was clear and evident to a people who had struggled and at the time it seemed they were about to break free of those shackles. Unfortunately, what we see happening now brings the actual progress of that movement into question. Was the wing actually mended or was the bird simply put into a different cage?

Contemporary interpretation of the song probably leans more strongly to the LGBTI movement and the social progress we’re seeing among those people. Certainly, they, too, have existed as an unwanted, unrecognized subculture forever, a bird whose wings were at times not merely wounded, but often removed completely. As society becomes more accepting of people of different sexualities, though, I wonder if there’s a lesson to be learned from the civil rights movement of the 60s, that a mended wing doesn’t always mean freedom from the cage.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Interestingly enough, it is not the Beatles version of the song that this photo brings to mind, but rather Sarah McLachlan’s. I like the light, simple, acoustic feel she gives the song, a gentle reminder, almost like a lullaby, that things are going to get better, that wings are going to heal. Women, too, are a group that has been breaking out from the traditionally submissive roles for some time, but still have a ways to go in earning as much as their male counterparts.

The words of the refrain are worth taking through the day:

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

I think a lot of people relate to the experience of having their wings broken, their spirit crushed by a seemingly unending tidal wave of negative events. This song carries the assurance that things are going to get better. You were just waiting for the right moment.

Maybe that moment is today.

[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Summertime

May 6, 2015

That “and” is worth a great deal of attention. I would write “Summertime when” but that “and” sets up a tone, a whole poetic tone, not to mention a whole kind of diction that is going to be used in the play; an informal, uneducated diction and a stream of consciousness, as in many of the songs like “My Man’s Gone Now.” It’s the exact right word, and that word is worth its weight in gold. “Summertime when the livin’ is easy” is a boring line compared to “Summertime and.” The choices of “ands” [and] “buts” become almost traumatic as you are writing a lyric–or should, anyway– because each one weighs so much. [Joanne Lesley Gordon, Art Isn’t Easy: The Achievement of Stephen Sondheim, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL., 1990, p.13]

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]In my opinion, the two great American composers of the twentieth century were Aaron Copeland and George Gershwin. Without casting any aspersions on any of the other wonderful composers of that era, those two managed to find unique ways to take the American experience, both good and bad, and translate it to a tonality that is rich, vibrant, unique, and immediately identifiable. Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue may be two of the most distinguishably American compositions of that century. I grew up listening to a heavy mix of both composers, but it was Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess that captured my attention most strongly, particularly the aria Summertime. Of all the songs from this first truly American opera, Summertime captures our deepest longings not only for ourselves, but for our children.

As a child, it was Leontyne Price’s incredible voice I first heard sliding through the lazy melody of the song, the vocal line at times reminiscent of the opening clarinet slide from Rhapsody in Blue. This is a song one doesn’t rush through, its phrasing and emphasis requiring a deceptively difficult level of vocal control and discipline. Do it right, and one can feel the heat of the sun beating down, smell the cotton and the dirt, hear the water gurgling over the rocks. Summertime is a song that catches us not at the beginning of the summer when we are happy to finally be warm, but at its apex, late July or August, when we’ve grown tired of working, when the sweat doesn’t require any effort before soaking our clothes, and grabbing a pole and going fishing may be the most sensical thing a person can do.

I didn’t hear Janis Joplin’s cover of the song in 1968 when it was initially released, or if I did, it didn’t stick. Price’s version was so strong, so dominating, that my classically-sensitized ear was certain no one else could do the song justice. After the Houston Opera’s revival of Porgy and Bess in 1976 restored the full opera as initially written, though, there were a number of comparisons, at least on an intellectual level, between what Gershwin wrote and the incredible emotion Joplin gives the song. It might have taken me to the second verse before falling completely in love with Joplin’s cover that not only modernizes the song with Peter Albin’s mesmerizing guitar but embeds the emotion all the way down to one’s soul.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Based on DuBose Heyward’s novel Porgy, the song’s lyrics are based on the spirituals of the 19th century South, and while the first verse sets the stage for how things are, it is the future-leaning words of the second verse that Joplin pushes, giving strength to the phrase “rise up singin'” in a way that even Ms. Price never quite managed to accomplish.

One of these mornings, you’re goin’ to rise up singin’
Then you spread your wings and you’ll take the sky
But ’til that mornin’, there’s nothin’ can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin’ by

Today’s image, in my mind, perfectly captures the end result of Joplin’s version of the song. I could feel the song in my ears even while we were shooting this set (in a public park). Where Gershwin’s original leaves one in the cotton field, Joplin leaves one in the tall grass, lying on your back, looking up at a terminally blue sky, not a care in the world, and confident that whatever comes next is going to be wonderful. One of these days we’re goin’ to rise up singin’, but for now, it’s summertime and living couldn’t be any more easy.

[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Gold Dust Woman

May 5, 2015

Model: Jenn King. MUA: Danelle French. Hair: Anthony Perez. Styling: Nativa

“You know what, Courtney? I don’t really know what “Gold Dust Woman” is about. I know there was cocaine there and that I fancied it gold dust, somehow. I’m going to have to go back to my journals and see if I can pull something out about “Gold Dust Woman”. Because I don’t really know. It’s weird that I’m not quite sure. It can’t be all about cocaine.” (Stevie Nicks interview with Courtney Love for Spin in October 1997)

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Actually, Stevie, it probably is all about cocaine, either directly or indirectly. Coke is one of those drugs that takes over the mind after a certain point, distorting logic and reason and even turning the most creative thoughts into nonsense. This isn’t one of those songs where one can take a hit, lean back, and suddenly be thinking, “Okay, I get it now; that’s really deep.” Instead, one ends up grasping for the obvious, that the song is about love and someone (or something) that broke your heart, didn’t quite turn out to be who/what one had hoped. No, that doesn’t describe cocaine at all. Noooo. [/end sarcasm]

Gold Dust Woman is one of those songs that gets stuck in the back of your mind and you’ll suddenly find yourself humming it in the middle of the afternoon without realizing or even knowing for sure how it got there. Fleetwood Mac released the song as B-side filler and, as so often happens, it took hold and ended up selling decently on its own. While never getting higher than number 30 on the Billboard charts, it was enough to cement its place in the minds of an entire generation that, go ahead and admit it folks, at the very least dabbled in recreational drugs. Not everyone developed a dependency issue, but we have this song as one of the side effects that won’t go away and we’re okay with that. It’s a cool song.

This is the one time this week where the photo was actually taken to go with the song. Danelle French developed the concept for a Girls Of Rock series but because of schedules and weather this was the only song we did for the concept. We did three editorial looks on the theme, one of which I used as a Photo Of The Day earlier this year, and the team did well enough composing the looks that it is impossible to decide which one best fits. This particular image, though, is my favorite of the set. The dress has an inherent sense of motion and Jenn’s pouty look, like the song, could be love, could be the coffee, or maybe is just damn good posing. The photo fits the music and, like the song, stays stuck in the back of my head, resurfacing at the oddest times.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Even though this is one of Stevie Nick’s most popular songs, it’s one of those where no one is quite sure of the lyrics until they get to the chorus, which may arguably be the strongest part of the song:

Did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
Is it over now — do you know how
Pickup the pieces and go home.

It is that last part of the song, the line about picking up the pieces and going home, that may resonate the most because we’ve all been there in some fashion. Not everything turns out the way we want or the way we expect. Illusions are shattered. We pick up the pieces, retreat to a place of safety, and try again another day. Even when one is high that line is still good advice.

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Advertising / Music / PotD

Living For Love

May 4, 2015

Model: Erica Von Trapp (2009)

“We knew we wanted to make a dance record. But you know, there’s so many different levels of dance music and even different categories of house music. So, it was really like, what’s the bass line gonna sound like? Is it gonna be really stripped down and sparse, or is it going to be loaded up? Is it gonna be Chicago house? Is it gonna be U.K. house? It’s like, all over the place. Is it gonna be a little bit of one vocal line? Is it gonna be a whole choir singing? So we were experimenting and trying out different things. They all sounded good, but at the end of the day, we wanted it to sound timeless, also. Not just something of the moment” (Caulfield, Keith (December 21, 2014). “Madonna On New ‘Rebellious and Romantic’ Music, Demo Leaks, ‘Possibly’ Crashing the Grammys and the ‘Crazy’ Sony Hack”. Billboard.)

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Some people handle adversity better than others and the fact that Madonna is still writing breakup songs at an age slightly more advanced than my own says something about her resilience not only in the field of music but in life as a whole. Yes, this is very much a breakup song, and if you’ve seen the video that goes along with it, full of matadors and a half-naked guy in a jeweled, horned mask, you know the passion Madonna puts into this song. She even does the whole choir thing, again. For someone who has been topping music charts for almost forty years, to still be writing breakup songs is both impressive and a little heart-breaking. Shouldn’t she have found that “happily ever after” love by now?

What’s different about this song, and the reason it reminds me of this photograph from 2009, is that it’s not all down on love, it’s not all hateful toward the lover that left, but rather it is a very positive-sounding anthem for picking one’s self up and moving on. There’s no time for melancholy, it’s on your feet and back into the game. Sounds a little crazy, perhaps, and such an approach may even leave one a little dizzy from the experience, which again, is part of the attitude of this photograph. Broken heart? Yeah, that’s over, I’m going to carry on. Disappointment? Sure, but you’re not stealing my smile. This isn’t a slow dance; it’s a get up, keep moving, don’t-stop-til-you-drop song.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]The first verse of the song admits that she let down her guard, let someone in who ultimately did her wrong. The second verse, though, is where the determination kicks in. The line, “I deserve the best and it’s not you,” is like a slap in the face and then she follows with these words:

You broke my heart, but you can’t bring me down
I was falling apart, was lost, now I’m found
I picked up my crown, put it back in my head
I can forgive, but I will never forget

There is strength and courage in those lines. Going through a breakup is like being caught in a windstorm, being battered by flying debris coming at you from every angle. You come through with your hair out of place but still a smile on your face? You win.

I found this song appropriate for a Monday, which is also frequently disappointing. No matter what hits you today, don’t let it bring you down; pick up your crown, put it back on your head. Those who live for love are the ultimate winners.[/one_half_last]

Music / PotD

Take Me To Church

May 3, 2015

“Sexuality, and sexual orientation – regardless of orientation – is just natural. An act of sex is one of the most human things. But an organization like the church, say, through its doctrine, would undermine humanity by successfully teaching shame about sexual orientation – that it is sinful, or that it offends God. The song is about asserting yourself and reclaiming your humanity through an act of love.” (“Q&A: Hozier on Gay Rights, Sexuality, and Good Hair”. NY Magazine. 11 March 2014.)

[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]This morning we’re starting a week-long series on photographs that remind me of songs. Understand, almost every photograph reminds me of one song or another. The photographs we’ve chosen for this week more specifically relate to songs that, once I hear them, I can’t get them out of my head. I’m sure you’ve experienced that phenomenon. Imagine what it’s like trying to edit a whole set of pictures when the same song keeps playing over and over and over on endless repeat in your head. Fortunately, they’re usually songs that I like so that’s not a terrible problem to have.

I’ll admit, we chose the picture that reminds me of this song for today partly because of the obvious connection between church and Sunday, but also because it is one of those instances where the picture came long before the song. The photo was taken in 2010 and Hozier’s song wasn’t released until 2013. However, that’s just how strongly the connection is in my head. The instant I first heard the song, which I quite like, I thought of this photo.

Not that the song actually has anything to do with the act of going to church in the traditional sense. Hozier wrote the song after a bad breakup, which isn’t all that uncommon in the music field. Comparing a lover to religion is a little more unique, but in making that comparison, the young Irishman takes on centuries of Catholic dogma in a way I’ve not seen since another young Irish performer, Sinead O’Conner.

Hypocrisy, bending truth to fit convenience, attempting to exert control over someone else’s life, tarnish the symbol of the cross that holds one’s attention in this picture. That the cross is blurred speaks to the less-than-clear meaning it holds in contemporary society. I find it humorous that many who wear it see no actual religious connotation to the symbol at all, but find it merely a pretty decoration. Do they feel the same way about love; is that just a pretty decoration as well? Or is the cross a warning that the person, like the Church, will attempt to diminish one’s own humanity? Perhaps it has no meaning at all.[/one_half]

[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]The words to the song’s chorus speak the loudest:

Take me to church
I’ll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I’ll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life

Religion and love are both inescapable. Both have the ability to do good, but too often they both leave us wondering who we are versus who they want us to be. So we ponder.

Take a listen to the song. Enjoy the picture. This is going to be a fun week.

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photooftheday

“This photographic thing has changed the entire vision of the world. It will go through every activity of humanity — science, medicine, space, ESP, for peace, against peace, entertainment, television, movies, all of them — you will not find one without photography.” -Lisette Model

Humans Cause Climate Change

You’re Only As Good As The People Around You

Evolution Happens

Vaccinations Are Important

Most GMOs Are Safe … And Necessary

Just Because It Hasn’t Been Proven Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t True

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“Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. Photography is a major force in explaining man to man.” -Edward Steichen

You Are A Homophobe

You’re Greedy

You Only Think About Yourself

You Diss People Who Genuinely Need Help

You Enjoy Hurting People

You’re a member of the United States Congress

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There’s Someone In Your Life Who Needs The Insurance Money

You’re Starving While Searching For Non-GMO Food

When The Polar Ice Cap Melts, You’ll Drown

You Drive Like A Moron

The Elevator Cable Broke

You Share Needles

You Weren’t Immunized

You Left The Oven On

Elves

The Bible Tells Me So

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“What use is having a great depth of field, if there is not an adequate depth of feeling?” -W. Eugene Smith

Berlin Airlift, 1947-49

Biafran Airlift, 1968-70

Ethiopian Famine, 1984-85

Sudan Medical Missions, 1988

Air Rescue Crew “Komodo 11”

Nepal Mercy Mission, 2015

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“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.” -Imogene Cunningham

You can’t take your camera off auto

Your camera is really a phone

You don’t have a clue what aperture or ISO do

You think a frame is what goes on the wall

You’re blind

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When women pose thoughtfully and artistically – in nothing but their bare skin – they find themselves. They discover that they are truly alive. They become a Nude. -David Allio

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The gesture must be correct. If the gesture is correct, your mind really creates the reality of the figure, and it is not necessary to hang on all the rest [of the details]… -Nathan Oliveira

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The living model, the naked body of a woman, is the privileged seat of feeling, but also of questioning… The model must mark you, awaken in you an emotion which you seek in turn to express. -Henri Matisse

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Beautiful nudes made it possible for us to contemplate our sexuality in safety. -Martha Mayer Erlebacher

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“It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.” ― Dave Barry

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“It doesn’t matter where you’re from – or how you feel… There’s always peace in a strong cup of coffee.” ― Gabriel Bá, Daytripper

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“I sipped my own coffee, heavy on the sugar and cream, trying to make up for the late work the night before. Caffeine and sugar, the two basic food groups.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton, Cerulean Sins

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“Let me wake up next to you, have coffee in the morning and wander through the city with your hand in mine, and I’ll be happy for the rest of my fucked up little life.” ― Charlotte Eriksson, Empty Roads & Broken Bottles; in search for The Great Perhaps

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When you wash your hands, when you make a cup of coffee, when you’re waiting for the elevator – instead of indulging in thinking, these are all opportunities for being there as a still, alert presence. -Eckhart Tolle

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We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup. -Jerry Seinfeld