ku # 560 ~ a tiny hill of beans

Moss covered fallen log • click to embiggenHugo and I took a very short bushwhack late Friday afternoon. I was in search of somethings natural that had emerged from under the snow. Hugo was just having fun bushwhacking.

The outing was a success for both of us and later, when I was processing the pictures, I was continually haunted by a BW vision which was a compilation replay of 2 scenes from Casablanca.

The first part was the scene where Rick says to Ilsa:

...it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world...

and the second part was the closing scene where Rick says to Captain Renault:

...Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Although, in my BW vision, the dialogue was slightly modified to read -

...it doesn't take much to see that the problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy Art World ... Paul, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

In my mind, the vision was quite vivid and detailed although I must admit that I was having more than a little difficulty (and reluctance) envisioning The Landscapist's Resident Contratian in a dress (in the first part) due, in large part, to the fact that I've never met/seen the man (much less seen him in a dress or in the uniform of a French chief of police for that matter).

Now, without wanting to delve too deeply into the meaning(s) to be found in this vision or spend a great deal of time and money in therapy sessions, I think that the whole affair can be attributed to the unadulterated joy and pleasure I experienced from my little outing with Hugo during which I was just picturing without thinking (aka, not thinking without falling asleep).

I hope that all of you understand what I mean - because I hope that you know the feeling from personal experience - when I say that the joy and pleasure that I experienced while picturing was that of connecting with my subject by truly being in the moment. That "moment" was very visceral (of instinct, not of intellect) in nature. It was much more a feeling than a thought but, of course, that's only natural in as much as I was not thinking.

It was only later, when I was processing the pictures and therefore in a thinking mode, that I experienced a more thoughtful experience / reaction to a picturing-the-moss-covered-fallen-log-redux of sorts. While actually looking at the picture, I was able to experience a replay of the joy and pleasure that I experienced while picturing but with the difference being that I could not only feel it, albeit a trace of the the real thing, but I could also think about it.

And, as I thought about, what I was reminded of was early childhood memories of looking out of the a car window - catching only brief glimpses and snatches of bits and pieces of the Adirondacks - as my family traveled on summer vacations. That was a frequent enough experience that I am able to identify it as one of my nearly preternatural drives to picture not only what I picture but also how I picture it - in seemingly random and quick glimpses.

That memory / reminder was augmented in no small part by the childhood sense of delight to be found / had from exploration and adventure in even the most humble slices of the natural world - an "innocent" joy and pleasure that Hugo was experiencing in large doses during our short outing. And, FYI, exploration and adventure in even the most humble slices of the natural world was a frequent enough experience of my childhood that I am able to identify it as another of my nearly preternatural drives to picture not only what I picture but also how I picture it.

So it was, that amongst the many thoughts and emotions I was experiencing while viewing my picturing redux (the finished print), primary amongst them was feeling of well-being and a sense that "all was right with the world". And, so it was from that sense of "all was right with the world", I slipped into a mode of broad and generous magnanimity and it was from that viewpoint - however fleeting and/or illusory it might be - that my BW vision flowed.

Comments

[Paul Maxim]

God, I hope no one ever really gets to see me in a dress or the uniform of a French cop (although the uniform I could probably handle!). I am, after all, a big fan of "Pink Panther" movies (not to mention "Casablanca").

As for "being in and enjoying the moment", there really isn't anything more important than that, is there? At its best, photography for me is both physical and mental therapy. Heaven knows we all need a liberal dose of that from time to time. So maybe I'll put on my Inspector Clouseau uniform, grab the camera, and head out into the world. Maybe I'll find one of those "moments".