A Blueprint in the Chaos

The Last of the Wild Horses

via gardenandgun.com

Click the photo above to get to a really nice post about photographer Roberto Dutesco and his gallery exhibition The Last of the Wild Horses. Some haunting and beautiful black and white photography from one of the most inaccessible and remote places on earth.

9/11: The Day of the Attacks - 50 photographs from that day

We're going to be seeing a lot of the retrospectives over the next few days, but this one from The Atlantic magazine is very compelling and moving. Warning - some images are disturbing, but are an integral part of the full story.

via theatlantic.com

Posted via email from Jonathan Hasson's Mind Stream

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Remembering, and the art of culling

I love going back and browsing through older images.  It’s both fun to remember the experience, and sobering to see how much we’ve changed in such a short period of time.  It’s hard to imagine that our girls were so small just four years ago!

Going through all these old photos got me thinking.  The invention of digital photography has been a tremendous boon to the amateur and professional photographer alike.  We can take hundreds, thousands of photographs without worrying about wasting money on developing a sorry roll of film.  A downside, however, is the overwhelming number of photos that we now take, good and bad, and how to keep up with them.  It takes a critical eye to weed out the photos that, had we shot in film, we would have kept as “keepers” only because they were the only image we had of the memory.  This really hits home when I look and realize just how many photos I’ve uploaded to our Smugmug site.  It’s an overwhelming number, and then how do you organize them to make them easily found and accessible.  It drives home the point of having a well thought out filling, naming and tagging system for your photos.

Regardless, take the time to peruse old photos.  Go find all those old hard drives, thumb drives and CDs and see what you find.  It will be fun and eye opening!

Father's Day at the Cylburn Arboretum

When Mardi asked me what I wanted to do for Father’s Day, my first response was “something that will inspire”.  I really needed a respite from the normal daily grind, so an escape was in order.  Mardi and I would have loved to have spent the day at a museum, but the girls would have been moaning after 20 minutes.  So a day mixed with outdoor walking, indoor nature centers, inspiring gardens all finished with ice cream fit the bill!  A quick search of local gardens helped us to settle on a visit to the Cylburn Arboretum, a Baltimore City park in the Mt. Washington area of the City. We were very impressed.

With a brand new visitor’s center, Victorian-era mansion and sprawling gardens and grounds, the Cylburn Arboretum is a great day trip for families in the Baltimore area.  Even though not open to the public, the mansion is a very typical Baltimore Victorian-era mansion.  Surrounding it were different types of gardens for different conditions – shade, sun, rose, mixed vegetable – all sensibly set out to inspire you to try your own.  Sometimes, public gardens a way too intimidating in their scale and complexity.  It was nice to see the Cylburn’s gardens experiencing some of the the same challenges that we see in our own. 

The Cylburn Mansion	Looking towards the Allée

The Carriage House contains a small, but nice nature center where the girls were intrigued for quite a while with the menagerie of animals and fossils.  The gardens were a mixture of formal, semi-formal and woodland, all in a state of subdued order – just like our yard! 

The Formal	And the Not-So-Formal

There was a lot of work that needed to be performed by the arboretum volunteers, but, for a volunteer staff, they were doing a pretty good job.  All in all, the visit to the Cylburn Arboretum was a great way to enjoy the company of my girls, in a learning and inspiring environment.

So, what more can you do to top off the day?  Ice cream treats at Uncle Wiggly’s in the Mt. Washington area of Baltimore…

Uncle Wiggly’s	She loves waffle cones!	And she loves sugar cones!

…followed by a steak cookout at home!  It was a great day!

Rib eye with grilled red peppers, leeks, zuchinni and mushrooms!  Delicious!

Be sure to click on the photos above for more photos, or head over to the full photo gallery for all the shots from the day. Enjoy!

 

Storms

Storms over Seneca Lake, Finger Lakes, New York

Life is full of storms. 

In fact, storms seem to hit us most frequently and most violently during the “Spring” times in life.  Spring is full of life, fun, hope and expectations.  Storms bring us back to reality.  Not everything in life is full of fun and success.

There is, however, always hope in storms.

Storms never last forever even though, at times, they seem to never have end.  It seems at the time that they only bring fear, floods, disaster and destruction.  Storms, however, can also bring refreshment, cleansing and renewal.

Storms always pass.  There always are better days afterwards.

Hang tough Mom.  We’re praying for you.

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” - James 1.2-8

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Photographs That Inspire: No. 1

I love this photo by Daniel Egner, published on the Ronnie Bruce website.

 

via ronniebruce.tumblr.com

It's amazing to me how one photograph can provide so much emotional energy. The desaturated colors, the linear phone lines, the lone tree and the seemingly endless horizon all imply the long journey we all are on, searching the vastness of our lives for something more, something meaningful. Our goals, our dreams, our visions all culminating just over the horizon.

Love this photograph. Be sure to check out more over at the blog of Ronnie Bruce.

Posted via email from Jonathan Hasson's Mind Stream

Art + Botany: Karl Blossfeldt | Garden Design

via gardendesign.com

The plant never lapses into mere arid functionalism; it fashions and shapes according to logic and suitability, and with its primeval force compels everything to attain the highest artistic form.—Karl Blossfeldt

 

At first glance, what did you see? The view of the back of a sultry woman? Two "twin" towers? Iron scroll work?

The photographs taken by Karl Blossfeldt are a fascinatign display of form, function and beauty in the most oraganic of items. Having the "eye" to see the beauty in such simple form is a great gift.

I'm envious!

Be sure to read the full article at Garden Design: Art + Botany: Karl Blossfeldt

Posted via email from Jonathan Hasson's Mind Stream

Book Review -The Mind's Eye by Henri Cartier-Bresson

“To take photographs is to hold one’s breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality.  It is at that moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.

To take photographs means to recognize – simultaneously and within a fraction of a second – both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning.  It is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis

As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means to understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression.  It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one’s originality.  It is a way of life.”

Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers

When one finishes a book that really digs deep and grabs your heart, your inner self, it is hard to put into words the realization that finally – finally! – you’ve found something that speaks to what you too are feeling but cannot express in your own words.  After finishing The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers , by Henri Cartier-Bresson, I had to put it down and ruminate on it, chew it up, re-read portions, think, think and think again about all the insights this great icon of photojournalism was able to put into words.  What a great book!  I still am going back to it to glean it’s pages for more!

The book is a journey into the life and thoughts of Bresson, probably one of the most celebrated photographers of the 20th Century.  Written in three parts, Bresson delves into his thoughts on photography, art and life in Part 1:  The Camera as Sketchbook, writes about his travels and travails in different countries such as Russia, China and Cuba in Part 2:  Time and Place, and offers his thoughts on other famous photographers and friends such as Robert Doisneau, Robert Capa, Jean Renior and Andre Breton, among others in Part 3:  On Photographers and Friends.

This little book – it’s only 107 pages – is a testament to photographic and artistic genius.  It is packed with insights and vignettes of the life of an expert observer of the everyday and mundane, yet he sees the beauty and excitement in it all. 

It’s a great read, and I highly recommend The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers .

How a Chicago Nanny May be One of the Best "Undiscovered" Street Photographers of the 20th Century

Warning!  If you have any attraction to street photography, prepare to be mesmerized by the work of Vivian Maier.

I love street photography.  The work of Henri Cartier-Bresson is a prime example of the genius of photojournalism and street photography.  Something about the life, action - the buzz - of street photography is just so mysterious, exciting and inspiring.  Combine this buzz of activity with the mid-20th century modernism of Chicago and the story of a quiet nanny, and one of those rare occasions of photographic serendipity occurs.  Who was Vivian Maier?  What was her training?  Where did she develop such an eye for capturing life?

These are some of the many questions still to be answered about Maier.  Born in the late 1920s and working as a nanny up into the late 20th Century, Maier was a quiet lady, known by some of the children she kept as a double for Mary Poppins and by some adults as a strong willed woman, Maier carried a camera with her everywhere she went on her days off.  Taking over 100,000 photographs by some estimates, her work was destined to remain in hiding until discovered by a Chicago real estate agent in an abandoned storage unit auction.  What was discovered by John Maloof in that auction is creating a tremendous buzz in the museum and photograph community. 

I've only just discovered these photographs, and I am mesmerized by them.

Included below is story from Chicago Tonight.  It is well worth viewing, highlighting some of Maier's work, as well as providing some background information on Maier and Maloof.

Fascinating.

Special thanks to APhotoEditor.com for sharing these links.  I recommend visiting their site to see more information on Maier.

Baltimore's Free Museums

The European Gallery

Baltimore has some preeminent institutions of art and learning that, amazingly, are free and open to the public.  In addition to the Baltimore Museum of Art, there is the Walters Art Museum and Peabody Institute.  Last weekend, during a visit from Mardi's dad and Cathy, we all headed down to the Walters Art Museum, and then on to tour the Peabody Institute.

The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland is internationally renowned for its collection of art. The collection presents an overview of world art from pre-dynastic Egypt to 20th-century Europe, and counts among its many treasures Greek sculpture and Roman sarcophagi; medieval ivories and Old Master paintings; Art Deco jewelry and 19th-century European and American masterpieces.

The Walters truly is a great FREE experience.  Did you note the "free" part?  Yes, a preeminent collection of art free for the viewing.  What a great deal!  This truly is one of the perks of living close to the "big city".  Currently at the Walters is a special exhibit Walter Wick:  Games, Gizmos and Toys in the Attic.  Walter Wick is the author of the I Spy and Do You See What I See books.  It was great fun.

The Peabody is a hidden treasure in Baltimore.  Part of The Johns Hopkins University, the Peabody, founded in 1857, is "the practical embodiment" of George Peabody's belief in "the power of the artist to open the minds and enrich the lives of others".  We were given freedom to roam the institute between performances of the Youth Orchestra.  We were "auditory voyeurs", walking the halls listening to the students practicing the instruments - from violins and cellos to brass - behind closed doors.  It was a great, and surprisingly exciting, experience for the girls!

After our museum venture, we ended the evening having a memorable dinner at The Helmand Restaurant in the Mt. Vernon section of Baltimore.  Appetizers of Kaddo Borawni (baked baby pumpkin) and roasted eggplant, entrees of lamb tenderloin and kabobs, all served with delicious Afghan bread and pallow rice, were a fantastic way to end the day! I don't know if I can recommend the Turkish coffee.  I'm sure it was good, to Turkish coffee standards, but my palate was not liking it!

Get out and enjoy your city!  There are treats and surprises waiting everywhere for your discovery.  Branch out a little and try that ethnic restaurant you see from time to time.  And take your kids!  They will grow from the experience.  It's worth it.

More photographs from our visit can be found at our SmugMug gallery - Walters Museum and Peabody Conservatory.

Enjoy!  If you like what you see, be sure to click the "Like" button and leave a comment!  I'd love to hear from you.