I read a quote somewhere that the only constant is change.
As far as I'm concerned, this is true.
In my particular life, the only constant is change and there is another constant that seems
like the opposite of the only constant is change. In this one area of my life
the only constant is the constant.
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| The Farmer's Market |
I post photographs on Facebook every day. I have a schedule.
I have this one Facebook friend who noticed the schedule and then perceived a
change in the schedule. He private messaged me to ask me for the updated
schedule. I appreciated this very much. He wanted to know what to expect when.
I understand that.
The schedule goes like this. Every Monday, I post The Beautiful Trash Series in the
morning. Then in the afternoon, I share pictures I take around the Upper West
Side of Manhattan. Tuesdays I do Faded early,
and then I ❤
Hell's Kitchen later. Wednesdays it's Hardscrabble
Plants and Mid-Century Modern.
Thursdays, Flyers on Lamp Posts and
other surfaces and Windows.
Friday Meditate with Me and Swatch Book. Saturdays I do The Farmers Market and Craft-like. Finally, on Sunday, I do What I see when I go to the Country and
This is Inwood.
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| Flyers on Lamp Posts and Other Surfaces |
If you are already my Facebook friend then you probably
remember the meanings of these titles. You know that Hardscrabble Plants are
weeds. If you are not my Facebook friend, I'm going to ask you to read between
the lines and make some inferences. Additionally, I've also sprinkled some
photos in this post that will give you some idea.
I apologize if the schedule paragraph went on a little long.
I have 14 series that I'm posting now. In addition to those, I have some series
I'm working on that haven't started posting yet. I can feel some of the series
I'm posting may be coming to a natural end soon. I'll roll out something new
then.
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| Mid-Century Modern |
For a year I took a photograph of my dinner every night and
posted it to Facebook.
People have asked me what I would do if something extremely
unexpected happened in my life. Would I still photograph my dinner every night?
Fortunately, I'd already thought of this and the answer is yes.
I imagined myself hospitalized. I think I was able to create
an accurate prediction based on past experience with adversity. I predict that
after a period of shock and extreme anxiety around the issues landing me in the
hospital, I would adapt. I'd make the best of it. If I were eating a hospital
meal delivered on a tray then I would photograph that. If one of my many
visitors brought me something from outside
- and I imagine that with a prolonged stay I would request this - then
I'd photograph that dinner. Finally, if I were not allowed to take anything by
mouth, then under those extreme circumstances I'd feel obligated to photograph
whatever was hanging from the IV.
One of the benefits to all of this photographing and series
and posting to Facebook is that I notice improvement over time. I'm better at
composing photographs and recognizing what will or won't work. I learn more
about the capabilities of my iPhone camera and it's limitations. I play to its
strengths. This is allegorical to the rest of my life.
Keep doing something again and again and inevitably you get
better at it,
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| Beautiful Trash |
I walk out my door and the possibilities are endless. I use
my time to accomplish a lot in little snippets. The last few days included
commutes to and from school with my son, a trip to the pediatrician with my
daughter, various errands and doctor and dentist appointments for me. The
photographs posted here were taken in the space between these things.
The photography I post like clockwork is an anchor. It
steadies me against the flux. It almost doesn't matter what I take pictures of
or what series it is. The everyday-ness and no-matter-what-ness is what's
important. That, and all the other reasons I mentioned.
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