Visual Brutalism and its Effect on Society

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While out and about I meet a lady deeply embedded in the fight against mental illness, drug abuses, and depression. She had the unique mix of book smarts, real world experience, people savy, and deep Catholic faith to offer great insights to me. One lesson she put out there was how many of the people she works with just have nothing to cling to or look up to.

She said many people have faith in God, but they cannot articulate a form to their faith in the divine. People lose trust in instututional faith groups as guides, but also cannot find their own way in this world through the clutter. People are drawn to some universal good, but without spiritual form or guides cannot move effectivey towards this good they desire. She is really worried about the huge pain being suffered by law enforcement. People willing to save others, but falling into despair themselves.

Last month I learned more about the concept of Brutalism, and how it manifests itself visually. Churches once pointed high, were structured to be symbols of theology, and were adorned in art glorifying the struggle to obtain sainthood and God’s word. This concept of beauty, leading to higher enlightment, also existed in the non-church culture. This sadly is no more.

Today we see huge walls, devoid of art. Art we see in many churches, hotels and public buildings are nothing but shapes with no higher meaning. The hallway in my photo above has lines which run you into a solid, blank wall if you follow them. Running into a blank wall, and knowing the collision only harms the runner seems to be a great symbollic interputation of Brutalism. There is something intriging in the photo, but the subject of the photo raising me to a higher purpose is not going to happen.

So this brought me all the way back to what I wanted to do with this blog. I wanted my images to collectively point to something greater than me…I desparately want them to point to God. I could not help but think what effect it would have if we surrounded ourselves with symbols of God’s higher purpose. If we learned their meanings, and used them to guide us in forming our lives towards the good would it help? What if instead of leaving public walls blank, what if we made them ornate with imagery pointing towards compliance with Natural Law?

We live in a world of complex problems. Part of the solution is to replace Brutalism with Beauty. We need to stop running into walls. We need to know we were made to cling to greatness in our spirit which comes from God, and find the form to get there. Through Beauty guided with purpose from above, maybe we can learn to save others and ourselves for the final gift of heaven.

-ehw

Lessons From the Road to Josiah Anthony

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    Yesterday we welcomed our newest family member, Josiah Anthony to the family.  He is a wonderful little boy, and the family gallery moments are full of rich loving emotion.  People viewing these photos would think we live in a wonderful version of wonderful TVLand where all is right in the world.  In reality though, the photos reflect a grace filled moment resulting from a gutwrenching year of enrichment leading to it.

    Over the last year as a family we faced many challenges.  Our adventures extended not far from the house.  Daddy led only minimalist excursions, Momma struggled with health issue after issue, kids got sick, we faced challenges at school, in discipline, and we all lost our marbles from a problem or issue more than once.  NONE of those moments were the type of Rockwell images I relish to build in either my personal or photographic life.  I certainly never captured those moments outside of own cranium. 

    Friends can't come over, Daddy is at work, and Momma is too sick to drive?  Hope for tomorrow and play with your siblings.  Tired of groundhog Saturdays with no adventure...shut up and finish a job you had not finished in the house.  Tired of having to do more and more chores, lacking Mom's presence in your life because she is perineally sick, or the thought you now have bigger bills to pay?  Pray on why your giving into vices, and hit confession to seek forgiveness. 

   In the valleys of life we always have a choice to help ourselves go lower, hold the course or begin to climb to the ridgeline again.  I know the only way we reached this glorious moment yesterday though, was because of our collective responses to those low points.  We only occasionally failed to stay at or gain altitude, and never went into a terminal decent.  The key to our family response was our collective final decision always kept hope alive through acts of faith and charity.  We also paid up lots of pennace to each other for our internal transgressions.

   We had a moment in some glorious graces, and now we are back to reality.  A huge tree fell in the yard, feedings every three hours around the clock, littles now need to re-establish the household order, health needs restoration, there will be more chores to do, and needs to meet.  The reward though will be more lessons leading us to greater heights of love, and good photographic moments.

  So off to work we go! 

-ehw

 

     

     

     

     

 

     

Premium or Regular?

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Premium or Regular? I received a blessing from God today...I went out to fellowship and take photos with the His Light Workshop Crew.

If you have a few minutes I suggest you take a look at the work of Bill Fortney ( http://billfortney.com/) and Jim Begley (http://www.wowphotoshdr.com/).

What you will find are stunning images of life.  You will not find subjects created for shock value or pure sex appeal.  You find written word and art which lifts you upwards...toward an appreciation for God and all his wonders. Bill is fond of saying he loves texture in his photos.  I also think he is very good at helping you appreciate the textures God adds to your life.  Jim makes High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos which knock your socks off in content, technical excellence and message.  When you talk to him, you can see feel his love of God coming out in the same manner of an HDR photograph where something we think is too dark for perception reveals itself and the composition makes sense so the message takes root in your heart and mind in equal parts.  How do these men do this?  By actively listening to you, and letting God work through them in a very humble manner.

See if you come to a His Light Workshop, you better be ready for God to speak through its many members.  You need to understand that when you join the crew, they will care about you more as a person than as a photographer.  The funny thing is when they do this, they offer more of themselves to you as teachers than most others ever will if they did the reverse.

I saw many examples today of agape love in HDR.  People freely giving of themselves to care for others,  offering a prayer for others in need, and providing an environment for people to engage in the sharing at a level their personalities and life texture permits.  It is not loud, it is not outlandish...it is quiet and subtle..it is the sound of the Holy Spirit working his way through people bringing Christ where needed for their sustainment.

So why the title?  Well we all have many choices in life for everything we do.  In choosing friends and services I think we also have a choice...we can chose Premium or Regular friends.  A regular friend will be with us as we travel through life, but when a challenge arrives they'll just walk on their own trying to help you with a man's knowledge.  A premium friend with walk with you, and when the time comes not be afraid to invoke God in the discussion of how you shall overcome life's challenges using his revealed laws of nature and scripture.

The men and women of His Light...they are Premium.

-ehw

PS X-E1 with the 35mm Prime

 

 

 

 

New York, New York

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20140129-222649.jpg I took a five mile stroll through New York today with a friend after work. I last visited this megalopolis 18 or so years ago...and it still overwhelms me. As I walked through town, I could see layer after layer of potential images...and knew I'd missed a whole lot of them in the process of examining the ones I found.

This little silver dinner was just at the top of Little Italy, well I think, my geography is still a little off. I find it amazing that amid the towering masses of steel and concrete a little one story dinner like this can still exist. I guess that is the life parallel for today...amidst the towering giants of photography out there, my little site and its images may still find a place for someone to appreciate them!

Oh...I did make it through Adorama without spending any money today. I touched the Fujifilm X-E2, a nice update to my current camera. I still think I really need to save up a bit for the newly announced X-T1 since it may achieve some of my goals of replacing my DSLR for the occasional sports and action gig I do. I found the Olympus OMD-1 a very solid, lightening fast focusing camera. I could be happy with its output...but I am torn because the Fujifilm's output is still better overall just because of sensor size and refinements. I also put my hands on the Pentax K-3. A nice update to the K-5...and one I could enjoy if the Pentax lenses actually had more powerful and speedy motors for sports and action. One thing Fuji, Olympus and Nikon need to do is listen to a Pentax shutter. There is nothing so sweet as the shutter noise you DO NOT HEAR!

I do miss my DSLR at times with its speedy handling. However I also know I have much better portability right now with my current kit. So as with all tools it remains a give and take affair.

-ehw P.S.X-E1 with 18-55mm lens. Processed slightly in Google/Nik Snapseed.

Pretty Kitty

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A portrait of Friendly the cat. Here is a rarity for me...portraits of a cat.  Yes, you read right, I photographed a cat.  Yes the animal I am very allergic to.  The animal that looks at me and says, "I can take you."  The animal that is ripping up my popup trailer cover.  I photographed a cat!

This cat is called Friendly by my trusting, adoring, cat petting, and often drawing wife and children.  She is a neighborhood cat.  My kiddos go out an pet the cat, the 22 month old chases the cat with glee.  She and her buddy Shiloh own my yard and keep it free from snakes and other pests (for the most part).

How did I come across this?  Well I was playing with my camera working on a tree across the street with its fall colors and late afternoon sun.  Then Friendly waltzed up into the yard and starting being coy.  She even wanted me to to pet her!  Obviously she needs glasses and a smell test.  I look nothing like my six year old or my red headed wife.

Seeing that she wanted to play, and pose and goof off I took the opportunity to get some photographs of a new type of subject for me.

What I learned was that working in the contrasting light, on a subject with such a glossy coat is not in the easy to do category.  Next time I'll stop down up the aperture a bit as well.  I threw out a number of photos because my depth of field was too small.  The portrait up top is a good example of the eyes being perfect, and the rest good.  The others...well not so much.  The final photo was a fun one of the cat on the prowl.  Just as with any photo or portrait I found myself taking some time to touch up parts of the photo to make the cat look like a winner.

-ehw

PS: Fujifilm X-E1 with 18-55

Friendly goes looking for fun

Happy Times

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Blast from the past! Here is a simple little shot from a four years ago...whoa you mean old photos still hold relevance?  Photos taken with old technology like a Pentax K200D 10mp CCD can still "work?"

Well...yes they can...I know people who could shoot with a pinhole camera and put my efforts to shame.  A good photograph is less about technical excellence than it is about soul...in my humble opinion.

So many iconic photographs come from a spit second decision, snapped on instinct guided settings not perfectly applied logic.

Not much different than life..always comes back to that life thing...

People we trust the most are those that we know who will do right when under duress and short timelines.  We know that their soul contains excellent guide rails, and we can trust their instinct more than our indecision.

So I'm going to get back to the good book tonight and try to strengthen my guide rails...so maybe you will trust me to do right when my next time of trials begin.

-ehw

PS This is a Pentax K200D shot with a Tamron 18-250 ultrazoom.  Good kit if I say so myself.  K200D is still my back up, although now I don't know how I ever got by with only one whiz wheel (control wheel) and not two!

Looking Back

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Looking Back... Looking back over our lives I think we sometimes realize we went too quickly past the best moments.  Thankfully my little passion of photography lets me remember them in ways I could not appreciate in the heat of the moment.  Sometimes I think it even lets me experience the moments more deeply.

A friend recently wrote about needing to remember to take time and pray.  I could not agree more.  For some of you effective prayer might come from reciting a rosary, others pure meditation on a devotional, or for some it could be a spontaneous outpouring of music.  It is in any of the forms of prayer that we can appreciate God's works, experience his calming power, or petition him to give us strength to overcome our weaknesses.  Use that prayer to focus your efforts at coming into communion with his will, so that your works can then match his guiding hand.

I'm trying myself to follow the sage advice of my friend...just like the struggle to capture a wonderful frame...it is never easy...each time is never the same...but each frame's unique moment can open a window of reflection as you look back that can change your future positively forever.

-ehw

PS Techies...this is Mr K-5 screaming at F4, 1/8000 and ISO6400.  He's not FF, but he's one good dude...edited in Aperture with a Dusted Warm preset and minor tweeks...

Liberty is not free!

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Remember their Sacrifice On this Memorial Day remember the fallen who gave so much to let us be free, and pray for them to be enjoying the sweet embrace of Christ in heaven.

As we pray for them, grab a the Federalist Papers and read what the founders understood liberty to be.  Learn what histories they read, and why the rejected so many notions we see advanced today...as if they are new and improved ideas!

Meditate on why they said on more than one occasion that our nation cannot survive without God's natural law as its moral guide.

When you do these things you will honor those who sacrificed all..and understand why cannot forget liberty is not free..it comes with the acceptance of consequence and the grows with charitas (selfless gift).That is the wonder of liberty.  When abused and made selfish; liberty becomes destructive to family, self and country.  When liberty becomes a cherished gift and our actions towards one another are selfless giving; liberty grows healthy families, communities and country.

-ehw