Which Side Are You On?
March 18th, 2012
No photos today. Just one of my rants. You’ve been warned.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”
It’s hard for us to realize, nearly 250 years after Thomas Jefferson wrote those words, just how radical a statement that was at the time. That was the age of the divine right of kings. Those were words that could get you executed in much of the world. Those words were the beginning of theUnited States of Americabecoming the beacon of freedom to the world. Those words represent the ideas that made this a great nation. Those words make me proud to be an American.
But theUnited Statesis a human institution and from the beginning it has had the flaws that are a part of every human creation. We have always struggled with the truth of those words in the Declaration of Independence. We started out as a nation where slavery was legally recognized. Of course, from the start there were those inAmericawho saw that slavery was wrong and worked to end it. It took nearly a century and a horrible civil war, but eventually slavery was ended and we moved closer to being the nation we set out to be.
The struggle wasn’t over, of course. There always seem to be people who want to claim their superiority over others…to repress and discriminate against groups of people for no good reason…for the color of their skin or the place they were born…and, fortunately, there always seem to be another group of people who see how wrong that is and work to end it. That has been the story of our country…and it still is.
Women were excluded from the definition of equal in that original document. The subservient role of women was so ingrained that it’s doubtful thatJeffersonever considered that his language excluded them. It took us even longer to fix that flaw, but eventually we did.
And the struggle goes on. We’ve gone from a nation with enslaved blacks to a nation with a black president. Women, once considered the property of their husbands, are now equal to men in law, if not yet in fact in the world of work. We had to have the civil rights movement and the suffrage movement to get to where we are, but we have always moved in the right direction, toward the goal expressed in that original document so long ago.
Why is it such a struggle? Because there are two sides to the struggle. We always have a force that doesn’t want everyone to be equal. There is always a side that is against progress, against freedom, against equality. They have been with us from the beginning and they are with us today. But they are the losing side. They are the wrong side.
Sometimes the wrong side gains temporary victories and the world suffers. That’s what happened inGermanyin the 1930s leading to World War II and the concentration camps and attempted genocide. The struggle is important. We can never relax and let evil win, even if only for a short time. The cost is far too great.
How could anyone be in favor of slavery? How could a position like that be justified. Why, with quotes from the Bible, of course. And with arguments about the economic consequences of freeing the slaves. And, of course, with arguments based on bigotry.
And, surprise, the same basic arguments were used against the equal treatment of women under the law. The Bible says women are not equal to men, even blames them for all that is wrong in the world. And what will happen to our society if women don’t stay home and cook and clean and care for children? And besides, women are too delicate to be involved in politics and work outside the home. Always the arguments against equality are the same bigoted lies, just adjusted to the current group to be oppressed.
So, what’s this all about? Well, while those battles continue even after the major victories, there’s another battle for equality going on right now. I’m talking about the fight for equal rights for couples in same sex relationships. I’m talking about equality for people regardless of their sexual orientation. The time has finally come for this nation to move forward and end another kind of legal discrimination.
The arguments against this next move toward the society we set out to be are the same old arguments that were used to defend slavery, justify killing millions of Jews and against giving women the right to vote. Those arguments are wrong, as they always have been.
I confess that I have a very hard time understanding how people can be against equality. I suppose it is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of not having anyone they can feel superior to. Fear of the “other.”
But I certainly know which side is right. I know which side is moral. I know which side wins, always, in the end. I know which side Jesus would be on if he were here today. If you don’t think that’s true, read the Sermon on the Mount and get back to me. And I know which side Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius and the other great wise men/prophets/leaders of the past would chose. The good and the wise and the kind are always on the side of progress toward greater freedom and equality.
How do we feel today about George Wallace standing in the doorway or Lester Mattox brandishing his axe handle to stop black students from entering a school? How do we feel about those who murdered Freedom Riders? Do any of us think that bombing a church and killing innocent young girls was the right thing to do? The day is coming when we will look in the same way at those standing in the way of equality for all regardless of sexual orientation.
Equality, freedom, respect, consideration, love…those are the path to the future. That is what this great nation is about. That is what makes us great. That is what makes us an example to the world.
It’s time for us to take the next step toward what we ought to be. It’s time to end another form of discrimination, another way that a group of people have been kept from equality. It will happen. It is inevitable because it is right.
Which side are you on?
The Last of Kat
March 16th, 2012
A few more photos of Kat from our shoot in the LA apartment. These were the last photos I took of Kat because she stayed behind in LA when Brooke and I left to drive back home. I need to figure out a way to get together with Kat again to do more photos sometime soon. She is a wonderful model and a fantastic person. I love working with her and I am very happy to have her as a friend in my life. I know we’ll be working together again in the future.
Even though there will be no more Kat photos from our trip out west, I’m not finished with trip photos yet. Brooke and I did a couple more shoots on our drive back east across the country. Those will be coming to the blog soon.
More Fuzzy Kat
March 14th, 2012
Well, they really aren’t all that fuzzy. My 50 f/1.4 is really pretty sharp, especially if you close it down a stop or two. But it does nice soft things to the background and sometimes to the subject, like in the last photo in this post. Kat, as always, did a great job modeling for these. Still just wandering around the apartment in LA seeing what we could come up with. More to come in the next post.
Moving On To The Left Coast
March 10th, 2012
When we left Page we headed west, first to Las Vegas. I spent my time in Vegas taking care of truck repairs, meeting friends and in general just recovering from the stress of the past week. So I didn’t do any shooting while we were in Vegas.
After a few days in Vegas we continued west to Los Angeles where I visited my daughter and her fiance. We stayed in a guest apartment in my daughter’s apartment building. Most of my time in Los Angeles was spent with my daughter and meeting up with a bunch of friends who live out there. I was pretty burned out from all the travel and shooting, so I didn’t do much shooting in LA.
But the apartment was pretty nice and had nice light. So Kat and I decided to do something very different from what we had been shooting in the desert. Have I mentioned recently what an incredibly wonderful model Kat is? So beautiful and so talented. Being a very accomplished photographer as well, she completely gets the concept, whatever it may be.
So, I felt like a serious change of pace. I put the 50mm f/1.4 on the camera, kept the light levels pretty low and the lens close to wide open. And Kat and I just played with the mood and feel of the room and the light. I’ll be posting more from this day of shooting. Hope you enjoy the change as much as I did.
Farewell To Coyote Buttes
March 6th, 2012
This will be the end of posts of photos from my day at South Coyote Buttes with Brooke and Kat. And I’m ending this series with the two photos that have become my favorites from that day after living with all of them for quite some time. These two really speak to me of the place and what I saw there in relation to the female figure. These capture what my work is about. I know they are going to be in my top photos for as long as I am around.
There are other photos from the Buttes that I also love, but these two are my favorites. What do you think?
Kat On The Red Hot Rock
March 4th, 2012
A couple more of Kat from South Coyote Buttes. I hope you aren’t tired of photos from this incredible place. I’m not. But I’m close to the end of what I plan to post from our day of shooting there, so we’ll be moving on to something completely different in the near future. Different but still wonderful, thanks to Kat and Brooke.
And, in other news flowing out of this amazing trip I took with Brooke and Kat, I just learned that a print of our Carhenge photo from earlier in the trip has sold at Nude Nite Tampa. After all we went through to make that photo it’s good to know that it is successful enough that others appreciate it.
You really need to click on that Carhenge photo, and then click again to open it to full (web) size in order to appreciate it. And remember also that an actual print looks much, much better than anything that can be rendered from a little jpeg on a computer monitor.
Brooke At The Pinnacle
February 25th, 2012
Some more of Brooke at the top of her game at South Coyote Buttes. That spot on top of that red rock pinnacle with all that other rock in the background…well, it just looked to me like the perfect place for Brooke…and she agreed. So there she is. I think we made something beautiful.
I’ve been busy. Last night I was in Pittsburgh for a gallery show opening and I got to have dinner with my friend, Sita Mae, and another photographer who I should know better, since he used to live in Dayton, Aaron Kennison. It was a great time. This morning I woke up in Pittsburgh to see snow covering everything and wonder how the drive back to Ohio was going to be…but within a few miles the snow had vanished and I had an easy, uneventful trip back home.
Tomorrow is art pickup day for the Dirty Show…and it’s my turn to pick up my stuff and that of my friend and studio mate, Gary. So, another day of driving tomorrow. But again I get to meet up with some friends while I’m up that way, so it is bound to be a good day.
Coyote Buttes and California Gallery
February 20th, 2012
First a few more photos from beautiful South Coyote Buttes. That’s Kat above and below are a couple of Brooke.
And I’d like to tell you a bit about a new gallery out in Oakland, California. The Gray Loft Gallery at 2889 Ford Street, #32 is having its first show right now. The final weekend is coming up, so don’t miss your chance to see it if you are in the Oakland area. A good friend, Mariah Carle, is included in this show and let me know about it. I was going to include a photo of Mariah standing beside some of her work hanging on the wall in the gallery, but I couldn’t get the link from a flickr page to work here, so you’ll just have to go look for yourself. Here’s the direct link to that shot of Mariah by the gallery’s photographer, Styros. You can read and see more about the gallery and the current show at the gallery link. And see lots of photos of the opening at Styros’ link here. And be sure to check out Mariah’s site too. She’s a very fine photographer.
More Wandering Around South Coyote Buttes
February 15th, 2012
Here are a couple more photos of Kat and Brooke taken as we wandered around in the vast, amazing, beautiful South Coyote Buttes area.
I’ve just finished packing up my print for Nude Nite Tampa. Now I have to run the box to the UPS place, so I’ll just leave you with the photos today.
On To South Coyote Buttes
February 12th, 2012
Just a quick post today. Life is keeping me pretty busy. Have to work on the taxes this afternoon.
After our day in the slot canyons, we woke up the next morning and headed for South Coyote Buttes. We had picked up our permits the day before, so we just headed straight out the 4WD road and climbed the mountain in the deep sand. The famous Wave is in North Coyote Buttes. It’s almost impossible now to get a permit to go there because it has become so popular. I was there 10 years ago before it got quite as bad as it is today. I doubt that I’ll ever go back. And a big reason for that is that South Coyote Buttes is vast, filled with rock features every bit as interesting as the Wave…and there’s no one there. So, please, don’t all of you head out there now…let’s keep it nice and wild.
Here are a couple photos of Brooke and Kat in the first places we stopped to shoot after we arrived in this area. Many more to come.
