I am rarely satisfied with my creations. This part of the series, however, is to my satisfaction.
For now, at least.
I will most likely reduce all the images I've created to a triptych--stylistic cohesion included, of course--and will explain my motivation for creating Et in Arcadia Ego.
Came here:
Met these guys:
Who knew that mules could be so stunning?
Then briefly stopped by here:
All in all, not a bad day! ;)
Is there a song about prairie dogs?
If not, there should be--though not in the country genre--but rather something along the lines of military pop.
Source: the Met in NYC.
The other day, I caught (photographically, obviously) a Brewer's blackbird with a tasty bit of flying protein in its beak.
Maybe I've studied way too much art history back in the day, but the bird's pose mimics early medieval Scandinavian bird-of-prey brooches--or vice versa--and other metalwork from similar cultures.
The most constructive aspect thereof--for me, at least--is that wildlife photography demonstrates how stylized art from over a thousand years ago was rooted in the craftsman's keen observation of nature.
So, when I edited my image, I've deliberately left some elements of metal fencing below as a referential gesture.
Yup, definitely too much art history!
I've decided to create a feature called Blast(beat) from the Past. The latter will be about, you guessed it, live band photography.
At the tail end of the 35-mm-film era (as a default, that is), I was a tough girl, running around between gigs, shooting photos, and taking names. I did both black-and-white and color, developed, and printed everything in a dark room. As I was studying photography at that time, I considered this "practice."
My teachers were often horrified.
Older and, hopefully, wiser, looking at these images now, I realize that some are good, and some leave much to be desired, that certain bands were worthwhile, at least within the realm of popular culture at large, and others--well, not so much. Yet there is something rather endearing about the low-res scans (some even have dust--from the scanner--I was very careful in the darkroom!), flash-generated colors, gritty hole-in-the-wall venues...
First installment: EXHUMED (2001 (?) / 2004).
And don't worry, I will (try) not (to) reminisce in later posts.
Typical (greater) Pacific Northwest: from a vision of nuclear apocalypse to a sunset rainbow in the span of 4 minutes.
The downside of randomly stepping out onto one's balcony to get some fresh air only to have Nature deliver the above is one's lack of preparedness. With or without a tripod, I didn't shoot from the same angle, so the slideshow is imperfect.
Next time I'll be more alert and vigilant. Wink!
Signed,
Perfectionist
If I ever build a castle, I'll have it surrounded by a large moat with enormous Central Asian shepherd dogs patrolling the perimeter in order to protect me from the enemies.
Naturally.
The Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Denmark, on the other hand, seems to have only needed one guard: instilling fear into all those around was...a white swan. Granted, this particular swan was in the perpetual fishing mode, so who knows what kind of horrifying monsters--that came by the way of the Baltic--it managed to capture below the water surface.More important, Kronborg has a bit of extra protection. After all, Holger Danske is asleep below ground till he is needed again.
Just in case.
The White Cloud of Genghis Khan
by Chingiz Aitmatov (1990).
Translation (from Russian) mine.
This literary work uses oral history—a nomadic story from Central Asia about Genghis Khan, which Aitmatov described as “poorly correlating with history, but quite indicative of national memory” in the introduction to the work.
Excerpt:
[As he headed westward,] [t]he most remarkable thing was not Genghis Khan’s retinue—fearless kezeguls and zhasauls whose life belonged to Genghis Khan more than it was their own—and that is why they were selected like blades, one in a hundred. Nor was it their horses, rare as nuggets of gold in nature. No, the most remarkable aspect of that campaign was something completely different. The entire time, a cloud floated over the head of Genghis Khan, protecting him from the sun. Wherever he went, so did the cloud. This was a small white cloud the size of a large yurt following him as if it were a living creature. And it never occurred to anyone—after all, as if there are no other clouds up above—that this was a sign that the Heavens themselves manifested their blessing to this Lord of the Worlds in this particular manner. As for Genghis Khan himself, he was aware of the latter, watching the cloud little by little and convincing himself further and further that this truly was a sign of Tengri-the-Sky’s will.
A certain nomadic prophet, whom Genghis Khan once permitted to speak with him, predicted the cloud’s appearance. […] The foreigner was tan, had a stern look, an impressive beard, and dry facial features.
My sketch is based on some of the photos I took of Native Americans riding horses bare-back.
- I came to you, O’ Great Khagan, to tell you—he passed the message through his Uighur interpreter—that by the will of the Supreme Heaven, you will receive a special sign from above.
Surprised, Genghis Khan paused for a moment. The newcomer is either mad, or does not understand just how this might end for him.
- What is the sign, and how do you know that?—asked the All-Powerful barely containing irritation and frowning.
- How I know cannot be disclosed. As for the sign, this I will tell you: there will be a cloud over your head, and it will follow you.
- A cloud?!—Not even concealing his amazement, exclaimed Genghis Khan, sharply raising his eyebrows. And everyone around involuntarily tensed up anticipating an explosion of Khan’s wrath. The interpreter’s lips turned white from fear. Punishment could affect him, too.
- Yes, a cloud,—said the diviner.—This will be a gesture by the Supreme Heaven, blessing your highest position on earth. But you must take care of this cloud because, having lost it, you will also lose your power.
Here are three more images from Et in Arcadia Ego. (Previous photographs were posted here and here.)
As you can obviously tell, each exemplar in this selection is quite different in style. I am still at the experimental stage in terms of which particular images and which aesthetic represent my idea in the most optimal way.
Also, I've already mentioned this in the past, but I'll do so again. I have personally found all animal bones used in this project here in the Rockies. I'm not an expert by any means, but they all appear to be the remnants of herbivores that perished naturally or thanks to predators. Consider it recycling in photography!
