Monthly Archive for October, 2008

does it seem to you that so many things seem to be a mess at the same time?? the financial market, the war, the campaign, and oh yes right here on our blog…er, forum…

right here, after almost exactly two years, things could appear to be coming  unglued…as i read your comments and e-mails, while usually thought provoking, i see  dissension, in-fighting "behind the scenes", angry rants,  and signs of weariness abound….

is it time for us to "cash in our chips" and walk away from the table at least not completely broke??

i mean nobody HAS to be here!! and almost all of our regular writers have openly "quit the blog" at one time or another…or at least threatened to…me included…

as Tom Waits once asked, "whatever happened to saturday night?"…

you can bet that i am very curious about what you think….but, i will tell you now what i think….

we started as strangers and became a "family"…or , at least, a family "type"…basically a pretty healthy happy family…i mean, we hung out together all the time….i do not know about you, but my girlfriend told me more than once that i loved all of you more than i did her…or sure seemed to spend  a  lot of time on this relationship, perhaps  more than that relationship….she might have had a point…or a least a legitimate complaint….

lots invested here all around…..your writing, your photographs, my writing, my mentoring….a nice little creative trade out that seemed to work for all….lots of great photographic  work came from many of you….after all we actually "produced" right here and continue to do so…blog  generated essays…ways of thinking to lead to more work….generous critique from all of us….no "tech talk" , but a lot of "life talk"…

and all based on the assumption that if we are not human beings first, no good "art" could come out  of it…my mantra for all of you to "look in the mirror" sure as hell worked for so many of you, and if nothing else comes out of our time here, then just wait and see when all your  introspective work gets published in the very near future….but looking in the mirror does not always reflect a pretty picture…some digging deep might unearth the very demons that both drive and destroy….other "reflections" reveal an inner strength and peace….so , do we not all learn from each other???

people "out there" really  believed in us…still do….generous donations from anonymous givers have come in this year to be invested in YOU….our Emerging Photographer Fund will continue no matter what and was born from our "family" right here in ethereal blogland…

so what happened to our family that birthed all this incredibly positive stuff?

well, what happened  i think is that we actually became a" real family" ….anybody here know a "real family" that has not seen: dissension, infighting "behind the scenes", angry rants, and signs of weariness ????   sounds pretty familiar to me coming from a very tight loving family….the phrase "dysfunctional family" gets thrown around a lot, so i will throw it around one more time….aren't all "real families" pretty dysfunctional one way or another?? 

if we are a "real family" , then why in hell wouldn't we share all of the characteristics that anybody in their right mind well knows personifies FAMILY ??  i say smiling "too bad", but true…well, what the hell?? at least we've got a roof over our heads!!

so you tell me….should we keep rolling or not??  every single writer here who ever "quit", sooner or later returned..talked into it by their friends they met here….and even a few by  their "sometime enemies"…i can right off the bat  think of two serious clashes from talented photographers here, BOTH of whom i have promised to mentor book projects…and i will….and for anyone else here who shows promise…

do you not think there have been "clashes" among some of the most talented icons you may know??  yet still they form an extended family….ultimate respect born of just flat out acknowledgment and acceptance  that we do not all think alike , photograph alike, nor behave alike…do you not think i have seen this at Magnum for example??  are we not still stronger after all these 61 years of being very very different from each other?? would we be a "happier stronger family" if we all walked , talked and looked alike???  i do not think so… sounds boring to me….sounds stifling to me….

i have always been suspicious of  "families" that were just too too "perfect"…as a matter of fact ,i have seen more divorces among the "happy couples" than the ones who figuratively knock each other around a bit..i also think  we can be honest with each other , yet  show some common decency and respect as well….

so, i think we now sink or swim….choice 100% up to you…not me….i cannot pull off my totally energized ideas now of an online magazine, to be manifested in print as well, without all of you lending a hand…some of you perhaps more "hands on" than others, but we "sink or swim" on the "whole"  …i believe  we are in a position to do great things…unique…first class ticket….i think most of you smell this  too…

our interaction is unparalleled in blogland…you must know that….we have been "here" for each other time and time again…but, should we  take the "next step"??  it is not that "all good things come to an end"…it is that "he who hesitates is lost" or some other tried and true phrase that i cannot think of right now that connotes something like "what the hell, why not give it a shot?"  see, i know already that one of the brilliant writers here will "set this up" just right and be most eloquent…..

yes, everything does seem to be a bit of a mess….it seems that worldwide, things could swing one way or the other….we all feel it….there is promise, there is potential disaster…so, what do we do with our little microcosm of life??  let it stall, or make it fly with the wind???

"troubled waters" or "sea of change" ???? 

for sure you cannot pick up a newspaper or turn on the television in the U.S. and not see the latest "poll results" regarding the choosing of the next leader of the "free world"…polls, polls, and more polls….we have an international readership here, but i suspect the choice of the next President of the United States is of concern to one and all…

with world financial markets crashing all around us, and an almost doomsday paranoia seeping into the souls of even the most optimistic, certainly what happens on November 1 is of more than passing interest….

while the U.S. cannot be blamed for ALL that is wrong in the world today, it must surely bear a lot of responsibility…if a country rises to prominent world power, it must "take the heat" when things are a mess…and i think we can safely say that things are not exactly "tidy"….

this is a photo blog…..by some kind of unspoken consensus, we have all pretty much agreed here to not talk about religion , sex, or politics (the three most interesting topics in the world), but concentrate instead on the philosophy and practice of becoming better photographers….of course, everyone knows that becoming a better photographer is primarily about "awareness" and not necessarily knowing how many megapixels aunt Mary has in her new "point and shoot"…

so, on a sunny bright  morning here on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, 20 miles from the largest military complex in the world, and  as i prepare to photograph a military family,  i have decided to take my own international poll…

since we really should not  go into politics here , i will couch this poll in photographic terms …you may fantasize either digital or film…black & white or color…..

who would you most like TO PHOTOGRAPH in January of 2009….Obama or McCain???