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This blog is intended to showcase my pictures or those of other photographers who have moved beyond the pretty picture and for whom photography is more than entertainment - photography that aims at being true, not at being beautiful because what is true is most often beautiful..

>>>> Comments, commentary and lively discussions, re: my writings or any topic germane to the medium and its apparatus, are vigorously encouraged.

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BODIES OF WORK ~ PICTURE GALLERIES

  • my new GALLERIES WEBSITE
    ADK PLACES TO SIT / LIFE WITHOUT THE APA / RAIN / THE FORKS / EARLY WORK / TANGLES

BODIES OF WORK ~ BOOK LINKS

In Situ ~ la, la, how the life goes onLife without the APADoorsKitchen SinkRain2014 • Year in ReviewPlace To SitART ~ conveys / transports / reflectsDecay & DisgustSingle WomenPicture WindowsTangles ~ fields of visual energy (10 picture preview) • The Light + BW mini-galleryKitchen Life (gallery) • The Forks ~ there's no place like home (gallery)


Entries from September 1, 2015 - September 30, 2015

Wednesday
Sep302015

civilized ku # 2982 ~ koi pond

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koi pond ~ Plattsbubrgh, NY • click to embiggen

Tuesday
Sep292015

civilized ku # 2980-81 / diptych # 166 ~ Tibetan Thangka art

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Tsering Phuntsok ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
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Thangka scroll / detail ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen
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Thangka paints ~ Plattsburgh, NY • click to embiggen

As I mentioned in yesterday's entry, the wife and I had dinner - a small private affair at the home of the President of SUNY Plattsburgh (college) - with a couple notable Tibetans, most interestingly the Tibetan artist, Tsering Phuntsok. The dinner followed an exhibit of Tsering Phuntsok's art which is featured in The Festival of Tibetan Art & Culture at SUNY Plattsburgh. The exhibition is in honor of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama who celebrates his 80th birthday this year.

Tsering Phuntsok is a warm and welcoming individual and he shared much information about his art and life. He fled Tibet after the Chinese excursion (invasion?) into Tibet and eventually landed in the US where he continues to practice his mastery of Thangka painting - Thangka is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, or silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala.

Tsering Phuntsok also demonstrated / explained some the techniques employed his painting. Things such using a brush made of 2 hairs from a cat's neck to paint the ultra-fine detail in his work. He uses traditional Tibetan paints which he makes from natural elements crushed to a fine powder and mixed with water. Many of his paintings are completed over 2 years (working in his spare time).

Needless to write, the exhibit and the dinner were an unexpected delight.
Monday
Sep282015

diptych # 165 ~ the carrot and the stick weekend

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punishment / reward ~ Saratoga Springs, NY • click to embiggen

Spent a long weekend (Friday-Sunday, my 7th straight weekend away from home) in Saratoga Springs - just outside the SE border of the Adirondack PARK - where the wife attended a conference / workshop. Going along with the wife, functioning as her arm candy, has both its punishments and rewards as illustrated in the above diptych. It shouldn't take a genius to figure out which is which.

Normally in such cases, I find something interesting to pass the time while she's conferencing her heart out. Golf was on the list but, unfortunately, the time allotted to that activity was spent having new rear brake pads put on the Kizashi.

FYI, stay tuned tomorrow for my picture account of my dinner last Thursday evening with Tsering Phunysok, Thangka artist and personal tailor to the Dali Lama, and together with the personal assistant to the Dali Lama's emissary to North America. Amazing stuff and most certainly more fun than a barrel of monkeys lawyers.
Thursday
Sep242015

civilized ku # 2979 / diptych # 164 ~ German graveyard and fallen apples

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German graveyard ~ near North Creek, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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fallen apples / Rist Camp ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Last year while at Rist Camp, we meet this guy and his dogs at the beach in Minerva. This year while at Rist Camp we discovered where he lives. Most likely it's at the German graveyard. Or, at the very least, it's where he parks his car.

Next year we'll have to knock on the door.

Wednesday
Sep232015

civilized ku # 2978 ~ ninety percent of making pictures is half mental*

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Park Avenue street corner ~ Rochester, NY • click to embiggen
It seemed rather appropriate, on the day after his death, to post one of Yogi Berra's famous Yogi Berra-isms. One which, although it was not intended to be about picture making, is nevertheless quite apt.

You can observe a lot by just watching. ~ Yogi Berra-ism

my adaptation of Berra's statement, "Ninety percent of the game is half mental"

Tuesday
Sep222015

diptych # 163 / civilized ku # 2976-77 ~ 50 years ago, football humor and the Obama Special

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my picture at 50 year high school reunion ~ Rochester, NY • click to embiggen
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sign / Half Pint Pub ~ Rochester, NY • click to embiggen
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Obama Special / Obama visits Magnolia Cafe ~ Magnolia Cafe / Rochester, NY • click to embiggen

It was about 50 years ago this month that I posed for my high school yearbook picture. It was this past weekend that I and 50 of my classmates got together for a reunion.

Some of the guys (no girls - private all boys prep school) were immediately recognizable, some not so much. It took a special talent to read a name tag unnoticed while simultaneously saying, "Hey (insert name here), long time no see." I successfully pulled it off a few times.

Of course, no one had a problem identifying me (he wrote, tongue in cheek wise). That was attributable to my former status as the class-leading instigator of various shenanigans, my athletic success (football Hall of Fame inductee / captain of the wrestling team) and the fact that, over the school years, my artistic talent was much sought after for making one-off illustrations for paper book covers, school posters and the like.

That written, there was one guy, name tag or not, who no one (at least in my clique) could remember. That's no small feat considering he spent 4 years in a class which had only 180 graduates. Perhaps he should consider writing a book about blending in with the wallpaper.

Then there was the guy (freshman home room classmate) whom every one remembered, if not by face then by his legendary status. This despite the fact that he was kicked out the school (nevertheless, he regularly shows up at class events) about 1/2 way through our freshman year - one day he created such a disruption in math class that the teacher picked up his desk with him in it and threw it into the hallway. Such is the stuff of legends.

The only downside to the weekend was my frustration caused by my lack of success in acquiring a T-shirt which was worn by nearly every student at the Friday night homecoming football game. The shirt was yellow-gold with black type (school colors) and it read, Women desire us. Men envy us, on the front with a big bold M (school name - McQuaid Jesuit HS) on the back. This from a school with a student body athletic cheer (at least during my era) - employed on those rare occasions when we were losing a sporting event - That's all right. It's OK. You'll be working for us one day.

In any event, a good time was had by all. Even the wife had a good time.
Monday
Sep212015

ku # 1323 ~ evening show

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the last evening at Rist Camp ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Last Thursday evening was our last evening at Rist Camp. Mother Nature was kind and gave us a very nice sendoff even though the fall foliage is way behind "normal" for this time of year.
Thursday
Sep172015

ku # 1322 / kitchen sink # 29 ~ all good things must come to and end

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lifting morning fog ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen
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morning dishes ~ Newcomb, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggen

Woke up this morning to lifting fog, dirty dishes, no dog, no cat and no wife.

The dog and cat are back at home and the wife is arriving this afternoon for our last day and night at Rist Camp. We are leaving early tomorrow morning (a day early) to drive to Rochester for my 50 year High School Class Reunion.

One thing which stood out at Rist Camp this year was a validation of the adage, Time flies when you're having fun. It seems like only yesterday that we arrived for our 5 week stay.

Today's Artspeak Gobbledygook - I use semiotic constructions and visual quotes of canonized art historical moments to remix photographic imagery into new content. ~ found on the internet