The Conversation

Is this series of photographs about conversation or confrontation? It is difficult to say when only a few moments in time are captured. How can we judge the situation accurately? That is not possible really. Just the same human beings always create some context for an image. It is part of the process of storing a memory. So like it or not we do make judgments about what we see.

It seems to me the process of journalism is very difficult when it comes to photographs. Images are such powerful sources of information that the written word simply can’t compete. A photograph, especially a dramatic one, will form memories even before we read anything about the context of a situation. That is something to consider in our visually saturated media world. I’m glad I’m not a journalist.

Rough

Rough Adobe, Terlingua  TX
Rough Adobe, Terlingua TX
The patterns of everyday life have changed utterly in the last few years for those of us in the so-called developed world. We are managed now. Inconveniences are removed to smooth out rough dangerous potential in our lives. Our world is a safe clean bright colorful place. Information is available at our whim any time anywhere. Youth knowledge and power are transformed into wonderful technologies. We are so lucky.

A mid twentieth century person will have memories of a different world altogether. A browner place with more textures, filled with rusty tools passed through many hands. Substance and weight measured the worth of a thing then. You could rely on advice of older wiser people to guide your way of living. They passed skills to young hands with a certainty of past generations.

We should appreciate our new world.