Charles

That’s what you’ve done here. And in digging deep into your own self, you’ve tapped into the universal that unites us all. This is what makes an image iconic. And to my way of thinking, this is an iconic image. I say BRAVO to you, my friend.

Patricia

Best Regards.

And yes, how true, that is exactly where home is. and that’s precisely why the picture (and its title which would have been perfectly apt even if the picture had not been taken in greece) speaks to so many on this forum who have never been to the aegean – Sidney Atkins already explained it much better than I could.

see above…

picture…
greece by young tom

poem
greece by gracie
for you…

when i look at young tom’s picture, i dont imagine looking through a ship’s porthole
but through my own eyes halfway filled with tears like…
i have not been home for a long long time.

and home might not be a place
but me in another time

Often, when we look at a photograph we are guided by our minds and the task in hand.

William James (1842-1910), American psychologist and philosopher believed that, “whilst part of what we perceive comes through our senses from the object before us, another part (and it may be the larger part) always comes out of our own mind”. Perception can be data-driven and theory-driven. Knowing what we are looking for helps us to form an image of what is in front of us. We also know that our eyes can sometimes trick us.

As John Lennon once said, “reality leaves a lot to the imagination”.

Sir Atkins, Your key of your greek home is ready …( see Katie, Patricia, My Gracie, Tom Young……………………..

Patricia

WOW!!!!

I have never made landfall in a ship, have spent precious little time on the water, have never been to Greece and until CIVILIAN, never even was particularly curious about Greece..but you took this photo, sat me down at the table, talked about it, pointing to this or that as you spoke, your eyes penetrating mine, communicating your feeling, expressing so much more than words could possibly say, the tone of your voice, the profound depth of your experience and your imagination inflamed by your readings took me around the world and then brought this photograph home for me.

To tell you the truth i was not inflamed by this photo and could not really get the overwhelming positive reaction to it. I tried and did the best i could but was only halfway there. But you gave me the missing pieces and your writing was magnificent, made a big ooomph sound as it sunk into my brain. (Though i still find that glaring highlight distracting but oh well)

Thank you, Sidney!

Happy Easter to you too!

kat~

“Any man who hates children and dogs can’t be all bad.”
–W. C. Fields

“Any man who quotes both Ken Kesey and Henry Miller can’t be all bad.”
–S. J. Atkins

Except in my vivid imagination since childhood, I’ve never been to Greece… never in reality dipped my oars in the wine-dark sea nor made landfall on Mykonos, Crete, or Ithaka. But I grew up with the Odyssey, was beguiled by Circe and Calypso, feared the wrath of Poseidon, and put my trust in my personal guardian goddess Athena for deliverance. Making landfall on an island looming out of the sea and sky, and homecoming after a long, troubled journey… are myths and images that are very, very deep in the soul… not only mine, but I think the whole of western civilization, part of the very base core of our culture and collective imagination. And by happy happenstance, your photo resonates with that core archetype… it slides into focus as matching a semi-conscious or sub-conscious template of the archetype and thus stirs deep memory and longing in powerful and mysterious ways. (This is what I meant by the idea of ‘resonance’ that I think I mentioned in an email to you well over a year ago).

And so I wonder, how many of the people who have responded to your photo, whether commenters or silent observers, have actually been to Greece, or seen a scene such as this through a ship’s porthole? My guess is that it speaks to many who fall into neither category.

Interesting (to me) is that nothing about the picture itself says specifically “Greece!” to me… intellectually I know that especially the winter months in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Seas can be wet, stormy, and dark, but somehow that doesn’t meld with the sun-baked Greece of my imagination. The light, the state of the ocean, the rain on the glass remind me far more of many island landfalls I have made in other climes… especially Japan and Korea, Indonesia, the coast of British Columbia, Washington’s Puget Sound… for these are the places where I have done most of my sea travel and acted out my own hollow echo of the Odyssey, and often gazed with tingling anticipation at sea and islandscapes through rain-streaked ship’s windows.

But the simple title “Greece” is not only appropriate but singularly evocative… since whatever our personal visions or experience of Arcadia may be, they all lead back in lineage to the shores of the ancient Aegean.

Happy Easter, everyone!

every time i see this i’m reminded of the elephant inside of the serpent in le petit prince. :)

always love your atmospheres.

be well, friend.

some people are mentioning “returning” to Greece when they see this. there’s definitely a nostalgic quality about it, almost sad, like looking out at something you can’t quite reach. Young Tom, is that what you had in mind when it clicked? or was it a visceral reaction to something lovely? not that we can separate our state of mind from the things we’re shooting.

you are mighty generous with your space..that speaks well for you.

have a really great holiday, Tom, if you believe in such celebrations. i think we’re sharing a quiet evening in the Burn neighborhood. That’s nice too. i have your photo up on the screen. It’s a nice mood where i am and rain right now is scarce..makes me feel a welcome humidity that isn’t there..now if it was October, i’d grimace at the sight of more wet stuff but right now..yeah, right now, your rain-streaked viewpoint is very welcome.

best
kat~

Kat, I declare this thread wide open … :))

not weird..he uses a lot of biblical references and Babylon is mentioned often.

don’t want to distract from Tom’s photo..

kat~