Header Attribution

The header photo is a wall in the Depot Art District in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Liberation: Growing On Trees


Cruising along Highway 198
on our way to Los Angeles,
we came upon
a most unusual sight.


A tree festooned
with undergarments;
mostly brassieres.


This would be
considered
rather strange
no matter where
one happened upon it.
But
displayed as it was,
out in the actual
middle of nowhere,
literally miles and miles
from any populated
settlements,
and clearly the work
- the very intentional
and somewhat time-consuming
(no doubt)
work of humans -
looking for all the world
like a fraternity prank -
this nevertheless struck me
as a kind of 
Pop Art,
seemingly utterly crass
and devoid of any socially redeemable
meaning,
yet still proclaiming
multiple levels
of interpretation
and psychosocial
commentary.

Oh.
And here's
a couple of shots
of
"the middle of nowhere,"
too;
taken while standing
right next to
"The Bra Tree."



I could go on for quite a while about this.
Is this littering?
How were these garments collected?
What time of day was this art "installed"?
How did they do it?
What prompted (inspired) it?
Why here?

As you might gather,
this was a highly
irresistible
photographic subject.

A few parting shots:



Taken 26 February 2012.


Friday, September 20, 2013

Fog on the Bay


Returning from
a whale-watching cruise
on Monterey Bay,
the harbor greeted
us with this surreal
conjunction of
sea and fog.
It was like being suspended
in a timeless bubble.
Truly, it felt like
we might emerge
from the fog
to find ourselves
arriving at a
Monterey
that was either
a hundred years ago
or a hundred years hence.
Exhilarating
and eerie.


Taken 30 December 2011.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Blue Wall #5


There is a point
just off the center off this photograph
where the lines
of the wooden slats
converge,
creating a slight optical illusion;
and all the
several shades of blue
conspire
to soothe the eye
and brighten the spirit
even while the
straight lines
enforce structure,
the shadows hint
at pending darkness,
and the peeling paint
professes decay.
The clear blue sky
promises purity,
simplicity,
and perspective.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Ripples


Often
we are able to
sustain an outward appearance
of serenity and calm -
or at least of
relatively unruffled
tolerance -
even when
our gut is
churning
with uncertainty and doubt
or
roiling
in reaction to external
disturbances.
But sometimes
the inner ripples
find their way
to the surface
and our demeanor
betrays our inner battles.



The top photo
was cropped from the one
immediately above,
which is a picture of the water
and part of a pier
at Fisherman's Wharf
in Monterey, CA.

Taken 30 December 2011.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Monterey Sunrise


It's just water vapor
in the sky
reflecting sunlight
as our side of the earth
turns again toward
our local star;
and stately oaks
greeting the sun's "arrival"
cast in two-dimensional
silhouette
against the lightening
cyclorama
of the morning skyscape.

That's all it is.

But the bruised hues
of this daily performance
are never tiresome.
They are always
beautiful,
breath-taking,
heart-swelling,
peace-inducing.


Taken 10 November 2011, from my front yard.