Little Johnny

No birth date. No date of death.

everything else is details....

except for Peter Reagan and a few others who knew him, all of whom are now long dead and forgotten.

ceiling in black and white

Does this photo engender more unease or tranquility?

slow motion descent

artwork on our refrigerator door

aren't my children talented!

okay, so i collect magnets, especially when i travel (i confess). it's a low-brow activity in support of middle-brow museum gift shops designed to subsidize high-art. so in buying these magnets i'm practically a modern Medici!!!

i want to point out a particular painting here (or magnet of a painting), but i feel very (what is the manly word for "vulnerable"? "exposed"? no, very bad choice)....very....confessional in doing so. It's St. Ceclia by Guido Reni. Unfortunately in this picture she is partially decapitated. she is at the top and middle of the photo. she’s the pale woman with a turban thingy on her head. she's holding a violin in her hand.

Such a gorgeous painting! The triangular composition (hand to elbow to head back to hand); the gorgeous red and white set against the black background; the impossible lighting; the upward gaze seeking (receiving?) inspiration. Plus I'm a sucker for the pale skin, I must admit. All right. So I know virtually nothing about the meaning of the painting. She's the patron saint of musicians, and that's good enough for me. I love this painting for its beauty, not for its story.

So one thing I'm looking for in my photography is to capture this kind of moment. No, I’m not thirsting for Reni's genius. Photography aint' painting--especially my point-and-click brand of photography. But what I wouldn't give just once to capture (or create or manipulate) an image with this kind of beauty.

NOT an eyeball

So it turns out that parents influence their kids whether they want to or not. My wife called me early this morning from work. This is how I remember the call; I’ll retell the story if I get the details wrong. She wanted to let me know of a photo collage created by my oldest daughter that was on display at her school. The purpose of the collage was autobiographical--to create a pictorial representation of her personality and interests as selected from magazine photographs. So far, so good. But here’s the thing. Figuring prominently in my daughter’s collage was this:

A photo of a weird eyeball looking through glass. (Not the one above; one from a magazine. This photo, after all, is NOT of an eyeball. It just looks like one. )

So I asked my wife whether her healthy and normal traits could possibly compensate in our children for my exceptionally eyeball-centric inclinations. To which she replied:

Not a chance.

I’m sorry. I really am.

statue

i feel like i've posted this before, but i don't want to go through my blog to find out.

think of this photo as an image taken from a movie with a music score. what (kind of) music does this image call for?

rockefeller center at night

pinecones and flower

so here's the kind of photographic eye i have: i didn't even notice the flower when i took this shot. pitiful.

inspired by claude

hey, if i didn't shamelessly steal from the genius of others, i wouldn't have a blog at all.

monkey no. 1

prefers the company of adults, this one. we have this exchange about three times a day.

"what do you mean by that? could you repeat that?"

"actually i was talking to your mother."

"oh. but what DO you mean by that?"

the other girls like to talk talk talk. this one likes to "discuss" stuff.

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my blog. in general i do not "chronicle" my life with my blog photos. nor do i show my friends and family for the sake of showing them off. usually i have a composition in mind (or see a composition i want to capture) and then i use the people i'm with as "subjects" for the shot. but i guess i'm getting soft. this and the next few pictures depart from that. please forgive me; i promise more brooding pictures in the future. those come easy for me.

monkey no. 2

she's all about the heart, this one. little miss sensitive. in the best sense of the word. can't console this one through reason. just have to be patient and stay there by her side. then in time she consoles herself.

monkey no. 3

last but, trust me, never least. oh, she's sees to that. every day. 24/7. if she weren't so charming, i'm telling you.....

three monkeys

stump and stone

one of those pictures that i like that i doubt will have much appeal to others. i think there's something terribly lonely and sad about this picture.

Happy about something...

A rare "in the moment" photo for me. Ahhhhh.....Harvey, we love you.

Truck on I-70 in MO heading west

I've just got to say that as a father of three young children how much I appreciate this gentleman for providing me and all parents with the opportunity to introduce the issue of abortion to their young children in such a thoughtful and sensitive way. Displays of deep and inspiring love of this nature are always the most persuasive kind of argument, I've always said.

kansas city plaza reflections

lamp on the Kansas City Plaza

Kansas City Plaza, pt. 2,