tuscany # 84 ~ I swear, it's in their DNA

Altar in a small church ~ Cortona, Tuscany • click to embiggenIn this morning's newspaper there was an article about the Mormons who seem to deem have their knickers in a bit of a twist over the idea as stated in the article headline - Mormon leader afraid religious freedom under attack. The first paragraph of the article stated:

The anti-Mormon backlash after California voters overturned gay marriage last fall is similar to the intimidation of southern blacks during the civil rights movement, a high-ranking Mormon said Tuesday.

The high-ranking Mormon went on to state:

The tide of public opinion in favor of religion is receding, and this probably portends public pressure for laws that impinge on religious freedom.

Ignoring the obvious irony of the fact that the Mormon religion is all in favor of laws that impinge upon what is viewed by many as civil right and the fact that loopy statements like "The anti-Mormon backlash ... is similar to the intimidation of southern blacks during the civil rights movement" are a big part of the reason that "The tide of public opinion in favor of religion is receding ...", one has to ask the high-ranking Mormon official the question (as uttered by Barney Frank) -

Sir, on what planet do you spend most of your time?

Of course, he may be privy to video footage of marching Mormons being hosed and attacked by police dogs that I am unaware of. And, although unbeknownst to me, I suppose it is possible that Mormons are being forced to sit in the back of the bus, drink from separate fountains, go to segregated schools, and are refused service at Woolworth lynch counters - oops, I meant lunch counters. But, even if true (not), I still don't think that a single one of them is capable of having a dream.

All of that said, why is it that so many from the various Christian sects, especially here in the good 'ole US of America where they are free to believe, worship, and conduct their lives - as opposed to trying to conduct the lives of others - in any religious manner they choose, feel "repressed" and/or "persecuted"?

Oh, wait .... maybe the above picture-in-a-picture gives us a clue ....

tuscany # 78-83 ~ things that go together

One side othe hedgerow and the other ~ Tuscany • click to embiggen
Dense fog ~ above Bagnoro, Tuscany • click to embiggen
Looking up and down ~ above Bagnoro, Tuscany • click to embiggenAs many who have been familiar with my work for a while know, I am a fan of diptychs and triptychs. While I have yet to set out to do a specific series of either, one or the other technique seems to pop up spontaneously now and again as I am picturing.

tuscany # 77 ~ a devil brew

Grape residue, Poggio Casciano ~ outside Firenze, Tuscany • click to embiggenIn Italy, by law, wineries are required to give their grape residue / pomace - the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil - to grappa makers.

Grappa is a rather potent (75-125 US proof) that is intended for use as a digestivo, an after-dinner drink to aid in the digestion of heavy meals. Or, as I discovered, it can be consumed in "appropriate" quantities - straight, no ice or mixer - with the net result of getting rather hammered.

Grappa is best avoided by those who don't like a beverage with a bite and a kick. However, if you do like it that way, proceed with caution and keep your plans for the next day rather loose.

tuscany # 75 ~ red trucks

Red trucks on the road to Pienza • click to embiggen

ku # 629 / tuscany # 74 ~ even more autumn color

Old olive tree, above Bagnoro, Tuscany • click to embiggen
Adirondack thicket, along Lake George • click to embiggenTwo pictures in the autumn mist - 1 in Tuscany, 1 in the Adirondacks.

tuscany # 70-73 ~ Greve, Tuscany

Montefioralle - 14th-century medieval village ~ above Greve, Tuscany • click to embiggen
Walkway ~ Greve, Tuscay • click to embiggen
Sculpture ~ Greve, Tuscay • click to embiggen
Tunnel ~ Greve, Tuscay • click to embiggenSo I'm sitting here wondering what topics, photography-wise, any of you might want to talk about.

Seriously, I am. Are there any specific topics that you would like me to tackle?

Let me know. I'm game for just about anything. And, oh yeh, feel free to comment on any of my pictures, pro, con, or otherwise.

civilized ku # 208-11 ~ see people walk, eat, ride .... or, crazy niggers doing crazy shit

Conseil D'Etat ~ Paris, France • click to embiggen
Walking the streets of Paris • click to embiggen
Sidewalk cafe ~ Paris, France • click to embiggen
Walking the streets of Paris • click to embiggenBefore going one step further -

READ THIS FIRST

A comment left yesterday by Sven W stated/asked:

I'd be interested on your thoughts on "classic" B&W street photography. Most people - including new photographers - would recognise & appreciate it's Real World credentials. What about you?

Now some of you might be inclined to ask what the comments on Peter Hugo's pictures have to do with Sven's question regarding street photography .... well, let me explain -

Re; street photography - I do, in fact, "recognize and appreciate it's [sic] Real World credentials". I also have no doubt that, if I lived in a city - say, like Paris, I would most likely be inclined to expend most of my picturing efforts to making street pictures or, at the very least, some variation thereof - I say, "variation thereof", because I would certainly be making color street pictures as opposed to the "classic" variants which tend to be made in B&W.

However ... one of the things about street photography that gives me pause is the tendency on the part of some practitioners of the genre to engage in a type of voyeurism that makes me rather uncomfortable. By that I mean picturing, up-close and personal, extreme and embarrassing moments of awkwardness, weirdness and so on, pictures that I would label cheap-shot pictures.

To my eye and sensibilities, there is all the difference in the world between an up-close and personal picture of extreme and embarrassing moments of awkwardness, weirdness and so on and one that depicts the exact same referent within a greater context - AKA, a broader wide-angle view - of the street. In my mind, that approach make the picture less personal and more general. Less about the person, more about the "situation".

That said, and more to the point of "crazy niggers doing crazy shit" - when making and viewing street pictures (as well as any other genre for that matter), no matter how you slice it, you bring personal knowledge, pre-conceptions, biases, and ideologies to the process of perception.

So viewing-wise, where Sebastian Boncy looks at The Hyena and Other Men and sees the "RACIAL CONTEXT THAT THIS WORK TRAVELS IN", I see people doing whatever they can to get by in a far less than perfect world. I see people possessed by a sense of basic human dignity and control, even in the face of a less than perfect condition. I see a basic human sense of family and personal connection - albeit, in this case, a sense of "tribe".

What I don't see is black or white, AKA, nigger or honky, if you will. But, if you're looking for is a divide that Hugo's pictures travel in, I see the "CLASS CONTEXT THAT THIS WORK TRAVELS IN" - not the divide between black and white but rather the divide between well-to-do and poor, AKA, the haves and the have-nots..

But that perception is the result of my personal knowledge, pre-conceptions, biases, and ideologies.

In any event, my preference in street photography leans heavily to those pictures which tend to give the people therein - and really, when you come right down to it, isn't so-called street photography much more about people on the street rather than the street itself? - space to live and breath with whatever their idiosyncrasies on exhibit may be and, consequently, leave them with at least a modicum of personal dignity intact.

man & nature # 245-47 ~ golf course nature

Out of bounds, 12th fairway ~ at The Sagamore, Bolton Landing, NY • click to embiggen
Along the 13th fairway ~ at The Sagamore - Bolton Landing, NY • click to embiggen