What Child is this . . . ?
The Star!
Angels?
Christmas Day at Mesilla Valley Hospice’s La Posada
In this fleeting opportunity to celebrate Denae’s eyes, smile, and the magic of her innocence. I unconsciously saw her as infant, nubile, crone and my daughter Johanna’s eyes; donated to another. All that remains otherwise; ashes at the root of a rose bush in Maysville, Kentucky high above the rivers flood.
Angels abound among us.
PRACTICAL & PRAGMATIC: I carry a camera with me, now, everyday and everywhere. A gift of Minnette Rich, Mesilla Valley Hospice Volunteer Coordinator who asked that I photograph other volunteers; resurrecting my otherwise dead career. I’ve fallen in love with two pocket cameras, Ricoh’s Caplio GX100 or Panasonic anything. They allow me to be an innocent old man with a hobby and not the shark I am. Each are superior to cellular telephones with capture capacity.
I gave up on the full potential of my former weapon of choice: Canon professional cameras. It is difficult to care for someone, or their bed pan, while wearing a Bazooka.
Last time I saw Aaron Siskind we laughed about getting too old to carry even a Hasselblad. Then I saw Harry Callahan, retired, in a documentary, using a Nikon point & shoot. . . .So much for my concerns about being a “Serious Photographer.”
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT: If I have to be concerned about theft and being identified as a photographer then I refuse to use it. Add to which I sold off, finally, my fourth Hasselblad system and all my Canon equipment. Not simply because of bulk and weight but in submission to the fact that I’ll never earn their costs--not in this lifetime. For contemplative use I have Olympus E series with a host of lenses. For software I use, and endorse, Sage Light. Rob Nelson’s genius has taught, and is still teaching, me all that I know about digital photography. It has put wings on my eyes where I was blind with confusion using PhotoShop.
