Another Post-Christmas Crime Scene

Christmas 2010

We recently finished the last household holiday ritual – taking down All-Things-Christmas and putting everything away. We’ve been in this house for 26 years and together for over forty. Christmas is our favorite holiday and it’s safe to say we have accumulated a lot of decorative stuff.

We no longer debate getting a fake tree. Not only does a real tree look/smell/feel…how can I put it…REAL, I no longer throw it away at the end of its short, decorative life. There is a portion of our yard, off to one side of the (slice-of) pie-shaped lot, where we store fire wood and the debris that constantly falls from the many trees we have. There the retired tree stays, to provide branches that enhance our indoor and outdoor fires. Fresh sprigs of fir give a fire that sizzling crackling sound, if only briefly.

But I digress...again.

As I was decommissioning the tree, I flashed back to the story that essentially inspired this blog. It appeared after New Year’s in 2012 The story is a fond recollection of personal survival after a near-fatal illness 50 years before. I guess one macabre thing led to another with the sad image of the dead tree lying on the curbside waiting to be hauled away. It seemed ripe for comparisons to a crime scene.

What’s a person to think with this year’s images?

“Investigators were called to the Ringger-Ripley residence after witnesses came upon this scene. There were signs of a struggle with needles and liquid on the pavement.

“Detectives fanned out to look for more evidence and quickly ascertained the victim was dragged away. It was noted that the perp cleverly used the victim’s body to obliterate his/her footprints so the investigators could not obtain more evidence based on the size and make of his/her shoes.

“After a (very) short search, the victim was located, upright and apparently in good condition. He apologized for any inconvenience to the authorities. He also looked forward to continuing service to the household through the outdoor fire season and expressed gratitude for being spared from the county mulching machine.”

Happy New Year.

Urban Abstracts

“I am not interested in shooting new things – I am interested to see things new”
Ernst Haas

Urban Abstract #8, New Orleans (April, 1985)

Originally, I imagined this post as another ‘Tip of the Day’ which was going to be titled ‘Shoot What Interests You’…or something dopey and uninspiring like that. Not much of a tip there. Of course, we take pictures of things we want to photograph…witness the explosion of selfies.

We take pictures to document events, special gatherings and travel. I must confess, with each passing decade, the memories I have of certain places are essentially the images I made there. But as long as you have a camera with you, why not try to make some shots that are more artistic than journalistic. Play around a bit.

Urban Abstract #7, New Orleans (April, 1985)

Nature can be a source of some terrific shapes and patterns…and of course, magnificent color. Our species has also built some fascinating constructions...not many but some. New office buildings up close can be captivating with repeating patterns of steel and glass and the latter can reflect even more complexity to the patterns.

Over 30 years ago, I spent some time walking around the new buildings that grew up around the Superdome in New Orleans. Individually, the structures are unremarkable but with a telephoto lens, I could position myself in a way that captured portions of one or more of the buildings. The long lens foreshortens the view and brings the objects so close together, they seem connected.

Urban Abstract #3, (90ºL) New Orleans (April, 1985)

I’m not documenting a cityscape…not even a building. It’s just part of a building…or two or three. It’s simply an arrangement of lines and patterns and colors. There is no anchoring subject, no sky or horizon to orient the viewer…as ‘abstract’ as this scientist/realist can conceive.

Urban Abstract #9, (90ºR) New Orleans (April, 1985)

Until now, I had always oriented the images as they were taken with regard to what’s up and down, left and right. However, they could be turned 90 or 180 degrees and retain their abstract quality…as I did with the last three shots posted here. The repeating lines, patterns and color may be made even more interesting because the perspective becomes disorienting.

Urban Abstract #11, (180º) New Orleans (April, 1985)

I wish I could find the quote but the essence of it has stuck with me even if I can no longer remember the exact words and the author. Essentially, it says,

It’s one thing to photograph something that has never been seen before…and just as compelling to photograph something in a way it hasn’t been seen before.

Stay creative, my Friends.

Shot of the Day – 3 – Snowy Trees

Snowy Trees, Pulaski, Wisconsin (December 2012)

The first fall of snow is not only an event;

It is a magical event.

You go to bed in one kind of world

And wake up in another quite different

And if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?

       J.B. Priestley