Monday, September 25, 2006

earthly delights



i'd really like that 'yes' picture", said alex. "it's my Very Favourite in the whole exhibition."
i smiled.
"yeah. right." i replied.
alex - in his charming and irrepressible manner - had spent much of the europephotobloggers weekend* sampling the endless pleasures amsterdam had to offer, so i slightly doubted his sincerity, and his sobriety.
but how could i refuse? i, in turn, took home this picture of his, and he has promised to send me this one, which - sincerely, AND soberly - was MY favourite in the whole exhibition.

*a wonderful time: thanks to all for attending!


Thursday, September 14, 2006

the benefit of the doubt



a gentleman at one of the "old camera" forums i frequent yesterday referred to my photographs as "syrupy", and my anxious alarm ("syrupy"? moi?)- along with my intuitive reluctance to succumb to despair - sent me searching the thesaurus.


i took another look at some of the images from england-last-week (larger here, here,
here, and here), and read, meanwhile:

"bathetic, befuddled, confused, cornball, drippy, emotional, gushing, insipid, lachrymose, mawkish, mushy, romantic, schmaltzy, sentimental, slush, soap, soapy, soppy, syrupy, tear-jerking, tearful, teary, weak, weepy"


i seriously considered hanging up my nikon forever. but i read, undaunted, further:

"adventurous, amorous, bathetic, charming, chimerical, chivalrous, colorful, corny,
created, daring, dreamy, enchanting, erotic, exciting, exotic, extravagant, fairy-tale,
fanciful, fantastic, fascinating, fond, glamorous, idealistic, idyllic, imaginary, imaginative, impractical, invented, lovey-dovey, loving, maudlin, mushy, mysterious, nostalgic, novel, passionate, picturesque, poetic, quixotic, starry-eyed, syrupy, tear-jerking, tender, unrealistic, utopian, visionary, whimsical, wild"



this - "syrupy" as "sweet" - i can live with.
oh yes: i'm a positive, albeit deluded, soul.

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

switching channels



it has taken me hours to pack for the short holiday in england that starts tomorrow morning when we drive off the ferry - fifteen minutes for the personal necessities like clothes and shoes and soap and toothpaste, and ten-times-that for the spiritual ones.



i can never decide which cameras and which film to take: each combination records
each scene in its own sublime, specific manner (like these two, taken a half-turn from one another, using the nikon FE and the great wall).
looking later at the images, i am happy to have had choice.
*
have a fine week!



Friday, September 1, 2006

time let go



"direction is more important than speed. we are so busy looking at our speedometers that
we forget the milestones."
- anonymous

the camera is old.
the film is old.
and i am a year older today.
i'm just fine with all three.