Friday: flora’s freezing

Fire and Ice
BY ROBERT FROST

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

(click photograph for larger view)

Leica R8/DMR, 100 mm Macro Apo Elmarit

Meeting of minds.

Sometimes we spend time with friends or family
and it feels like we’ve watched ‘this movie’ several times already.
Other times it feels like a more precious sharing of time and ideas.
What makes one feel like saying, “I’ve missed you.”
“I enjoy your wit and humor.”

Rich and I met over coffee at Fiddleheads.
We shared thoughts on aging, memory, family, photography, electron microscopes, brains, consciousness, meditation, blogs, facebook and social media and probably more.
It had been a long time since we just “talked” about subjects that didn’t relate to Rich’s business, photoshop, lightroom and website.

Paul Caponigro challenged us with, “It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like,
it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.”
Alfred Stieglitz claimed, “In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.”
(of course you can click on the photograph for a larger view)

As Rich and I exchanged thoughts
I gazed over Rich’s left shoulder to see
others exchanged kisses.

Henri Cartier-Bresson allegedly said,
“For me, the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity.”
and
“Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.”

All of a sudden, I realized my favorite lens, the 50 mm Summilux Asph
was front focusing, considerably, on my M8.
Damn. And the 28 too? Double Damn
I’m feeling so bourgeois as I fret over adjusting my rangefinder and consider sending my kit off to Leica for CLA.

On the subject of craft, art, practice and mastery

A rich noble commissioned a famous artist to paint him a picture of a crane.
The artist agreed, though he set a rather steep price, even for one as rich as this noble.
The artist asked his patron to return in a month.

After a month, the noble returned to the house of the artist.
The artist told the patron that he needs a higher price;
and the painting would take another month.

And so this went on for 6 months.
The price ever rising and delivery put off for another month.

Finally on the seventh month:
The artist asked the noble to sit down,
and said, “Just a moment, please.”

The artist unrolled a piece of paper.
It was blank.
The artist dipped his brush into freshly ground ink,
and before the nobleman’s very eyes,
completed his painting of the crane.
It was undeniably beautiful.
It captured living crane essence,
with only a few delicate brushstrokes!

The noble, rather than being pleased, roared angrily,
“How can you expect me to wait for seven months?
And pay so much?
For something that took you only a few minutes to do?”

The artist calmly walked over to a nearby cupboard and opened it
to reveal hundreds and hundreds of studies of cranes.

Writers and windows at the intersection of back then and here now

Ananda Walker, David White and I met for a second time to see, hear, and creatively encounter one another. We discussed histories, publishing, creativity, book and film recommendations.

Hot off the press: Death Is A Transformation by Ananda (April) Walker

(click photograph for larger view)

Leica M8, 50 mm Summilux Asph