I continue to explore the idea of holding a distorting lens between my camera and my subject. To me, this blurring, depth, and color creates a new way of being with nature. It reminds me of some kind of faded memory, like the changing of time. I wrote this thinking about the image… When you are near, Time ticks tirelessly on without a single care. When you are far, Seconds suddenly slow to an anxious crawl.
When carving a pumpkin I always strive to do something a little different. This time I carved a little window frame out of a white pumpkin that holds a 4×5 negative of tree limbs. When you put a candle inside it is beautifully back-lit… I guess this is how a photographer celebrates Halloween.
I rode an old 1950’s diesel locomotive today. This was my first train ride ever (that I can remember at least). My favorite part was staring out into the abyss that was just a horizontal blur of colored fall leafs. Hypnotizing. Memorizing… I opened the window, slowed my shutter, and made an attempt to capture the moment through my camera.
Joel-Peter Witkin, “The Kiss”, 1982
I will preface this by noting that Witkin is a very well known and achieving artist, and I personally adore his genius – however the work is also difficult for some to take in, so be forewarned… An early childhood memory left Witkin obsessed with the idea of death. This theme is brought up in his work along with the grotesque. Many of his images contain corpses, body parts, transsexuals, the physically deformed and so on. His complex tableaux often appear similar to old classical paintings. This image titled “The Kiss” leads us to happy thoughts of love, however these two heads are actually one person, his head cut in half and re-positioned facing himself.