Photo Week In Review...

1)  We start the week off with yet another rejection notice- am I the only one who thinks getting these were a lot more fun climactic via snail mail?  OK- nothing unusual there...

2)  Then on the third day of working a three hour nightly shift on one tiff, and just before officially calling it a done deal- I notice this one little shadow area that I really... pretty much... hadn't really.... noticed all that much before. I had noticed all the other 53 problem areas that lurked about in this particular wide angle shot- yet there it was... leering at me in full realization that it was completely and thoroughly unfixable and beyond redemption. It only took up about 5% of the entire real estate in said image; would anyone even notice (at least that much)?  Now, of course, it seemed to loom larger than a Jovian moon. 

Naturally, I tried to fix it. I hadn't come this far, spent so many hours, endured and solved so many of it's previous secrets to give up on this last minute pimple of a hiccup of an excuse. So on I went into night four, and slowly, surely, finally- Progress! Validated, exonerated, I triumphantly compared it to my low res scan, and... deleted that four day son of a bitch down the computer wormhole of all things forgotten and never again mentioned.

3)  WOW! Here's something to take anyone's mind off the darkroom hell of the computer monitor- something I've never ever seen offered in my 35+ years of photography--- an offer to participate in a A Flash Powder Workshop! Screw tintypes, glass plates and albumen et al... we're talking Flash Powder Baby- Hooah! Don't know where I'll get the money, but this is something to see, something to experience first hand- photography at its primitive best! Danger, adventure, excitement writ large...

Well, not quite exactly...

TOP(PED)!

I submitted this photo (containing approx. 8 security cameras) to Mike Johnston at TOP as a "counter balance" (if such is the appropriate term) to his post Friday concerning how we as photographers (professional and otherwise) continue to be unduly harassed by "authorities" (of what I'm not quite sure), as we go about doing what we are legally and unquestionably allowed to do. So I was quite honored to have it suddenly appear in a Random Excellence post...

Photo: S. Banos

I've always looked upon our flag with mixed emotions- proud for all the great good it inevitably stands for, shamed for all the... well, undeniable evil perpetrated in its name not only upon its own citizens, but on those of countless other countries. Of course, most citizens either conveniently choose to dismiss or deny the latter (eg- racism, economic enslavement both foreign and domestic, wars of convenience, etc). If only the average citizen was as aware of the abhorrent injustices committed in our name to this day as they are of the everyday occurrences of their favorite celebrities and sport teams! Still, I've always tried to maintain some small semblance of hope that America would continue to improve, if only by increment. Americans after all, like most people anywhere, are a generally generous and decent lot.

I wish I could be as proud, as confident, as hopeful for the future as that young father posing with his infant child! I suppose parenthood demands it. But optimism is no longer part of my outlook, and I'm not even talking economy. Basic liberties and cherished civic guarantees are gradually and purposely being eroded and eradicated- and they are as nothing compared to the sacrilege we have savaged upon our environment.

Cliche as it may be, and is, even the most cursory acquaintance with history will reveal our growing and undeniable parallels with The Roman Empire, particularly the part labelled- The Fall. Our obsession with celebrity and spectacle, consumerism and self have deluded and blinded us to the inevitable consequences of our own actions.

The roar of the Coliseum beckons...

Why? Why? Why?

Was it Dundee or Ali, who said, "Always go for the head, and the rest will follow." A learned colleague justifiably asked what manner of folly I subscribed to in writing up my Anti-Apple Petition. Why Apple, why now? Well... Apple is that giant head, one of 'em anyway- besides, the very thought of Steve Jobs has always made me cringe (and according to his bio- most anyone who ever met him). A little pressure on any of these thoughtless bastards who try and squeeze every last life affirming penny from the masses they so utterly hold in complete contempt is, well... a good thing.

When I was still living in NYC, I switched from Citibank to another- after Citi fired its entire custodial staff so they could save themselves a few measly bucks (mid '90s). The very next day I read that the bank I switched to was run by the Russian mob....

No, ya can't win, but every once in a while I feel like swinging at those windmills- yeah, just to let 'em know I'm there, if anything. The last time I tried something like this (via my blog), namely, to get fellow photographers to boycott Amazon (wow, talk-about-folly)- ya coulda heard crickets on that one! 

Anyway, I've reached out to the Asian community on this, and hopefully, someone of Chinese descent with some experience in this debacle will write in and set me straight....

PS- There's something, I don't know- just slightly... post modern? (can't quite put my finger on it, but let's give credit where credit is due) about a company putting up nets to catch the very people they're wantonly pushing off the cliff!