The window as a metaphor

Following the thread of a thought brought on

by this morning's post to Instagram, I made a curious discovery;

I discovered that since my very first post on IG in 2014

I've posted a total of 14 images related to  the window.

Just what is it about them I find so intriguing?

~ view into the woods right after dawn, posted August 2017 ~

A quick hop to googleland took me on a merry journey exploring symbolism.

There was this article in particular, 'Windows: Exploring the History of a Metaphor' by

H. J. Krysmanski

“The ‘window’ metaphor has a long career in the history of art and, in fact, in the evolvement of the human perspective in general.” 

It's long, but comprehensive, with a thought-provoking list of subtitles to choose from:

The Evolution of the Window

The Evolution of the Window Metaphor

Source of Eternal Light: the Gothic Cathedral

Renaissance: the Appearance of the Screen

Light on Privacy: the Windows of Jan Vermeer

Window Dressing: Staging the Theatrical Stage

Through the Looking Glass: Virtual Reality in Victorian England

Space and Time: the Epistemology of Screening and Framing

The Eye: Mirror and Window of the Soul

The Window Metaphor in Islamic Culture

The Window Metaphor in Buddhism and Confucianism

Walls of Glass: the Essence of Architecture

Modern Painting: in Defense of the Classical Screen

‘Peep Show’ and ‘Fensterln’: Folklore of the Windows Experience

Window Shopping: the Commodification of Desire

The Window Metaphor in Modern Science

Journeys through Space: the Cinema Screen

Surveillance: Monitoring the Radar Screen

Archaeology of the Computer Screen

How ‘Windows’ Chanced To Become A Registered Trade Mark

~ bedroom window overlooking the wild Atlantic :: Isle of Harris, Scotland, posted August 2017 ~

So what if I just compile all my windows here, as a group? ... ALL of them

in the order they were posted starting with this morning's, working back thru time.

I'd like to see what their collective voice may have to say.

~ better than the movies, posted February 2017 ~

~ sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, west Cork, Ireland, posted October 2016 ~

~ first crack, posted September 2016 ~

 "It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods.

I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned.

If you know despair or can see it in others.

I want to know

if you are prepared to live in the world with its harsh need

to change you.  If you can look back

with firm eyes

saying this is where I stand ..."

~ from 'Self Portrait' by David Whyte, posted June 2016 ~

~ after a big swim, posted December 2015 ~

~ sometimes it takes darkness, posted April 2015 ~

~ threshold :: St. Conan's Kirk, Scotland, posted November 2014 ~

~ seasonal changes afoot :: watching rainclouds mass, posted September 2014 ~

~ 9:05 a.m. on 9/05/2014, posted September 2014 ~

~ first evening in Edinburgh :: view at twilight, posted August 2014 ~

~ my friend's house :: needs a wee bit of housekeeping, Newburgh, Scotland, posted July 2014 ~

~ self :: riding the wind, posted April 2014 ~

:::

straight photography,

app-ed photography;

the real, the imagined, the wished for

... the simple 'what was there.'

“Above all, though, windows have permitted man to experience the essence of light, from Chartres Cathedral to the paintings of Vermeer, and to this day even their most mundane use implies some sort of interaction with the unknown and with infinity.”

I don't mind keeping the question open for now.

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Seeing thru paper

When the Lopez Island natural dyers gathered for this season's planning meeting

[ however wine-laden or deliciously food-laden the "meeting" may have been ]

there was a unanimous & resounding desire to next delve into experimentation

with paper.

We meet tomorrow for what we are calling

our 'Paper Dyeing Extravaganza'

I've got loads of prepping to do but as I sat at the computer this morning

looking over my past - and very few - experiences with this material,

I came across a bunch of Diana Photo app composites I'd made a while back.

They provided a bit of inspiration.

Admittedly, I feel awkward & hesitant with paper ...

while cloth feels familiar & welcoming, with paper I'm standoff-ish.

I love its qualities but I don't know or  understand  its workings yet.

Well, we all know the only way to get over that.

Dive.

Then keep swimming 

& let nature work her very particular magic.

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Tweaking ones perception

The possibilities are endless.

Whenever I begin the editing process, I just fly ...

rarely do I venture through with a preconceived notion of how an image should look

but rather

an aim towards a feeling or some sort of emotional response to the moments

of being there.

This quote by Ansel Adams remains one of my favorites:

You don't make a photograph just with a camera.

You bring to the act of photography

all the pictures you have seen,

the books you have read,

the music you have heard,

the people you have loved.

Here's another fine one, from the great street photographer, Elliott Erwitt:

To me, photography is an art of observation.

It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place ...

I've found it has little to do with the things you see

and everything to do with the way you see them.

When I stood next to this wall in my friend's garden, I literally had a gut reaction

to the armature of this vine.  I'd only ever seen it during the leafy months

when it's so covered with greenery the exquisite structure is hidden.

I immediately loved how it showed its age, how carefully tended & tied to the wall it was,

how gnarled, twisted, interwoven and even fragile it looked [ but wasn't ] ...

and later, working through the edit, I realized my response was also sparked by

a longing for other gardens I've known, or tended, elsewhere in the world

that I probably won't ever see again.

The bottom photo was the first edit & was yesterday's post on Instagram.  I thought

I was done.  But for some unknown reason I just kept playing ...

With the addition of a 4th app, my perception jumped into another realm entirely

and suddenly two symmetrical versions have added to the story

in quite unexpected ways.  Which, as it turns out, is

precisely in tune and apropos to my feelings about

that vine

on that wall

in that moment.

Memories can be fierce

even if they're buried and one hasn't thought of them in a long time.

: : :

I wasn't going to write a new post until I finalized a fresh blog layout.

HA!  so much for that idea.

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Another place

::  flight miracle  ::

Although there may be long stretches of time between blog posts,

it's rare a day goes by when I don't fiddle with photographs ...

either taking them or playing with them;

editing & stacking apps, playing with effects, layering textures,

double exposures ... on and on it goes.

True confession:

I have absolutely, unreservedly,

fallen under the spell of iPhoneography.

[digital photography with a smartphone]

At this moment

there's a wee bit of a backlog of images piling up

and I've been noticing a lot of folks

sharing similar mobile photography interests

who I want

to be in touch with ...

I love learning from them and I love to see how

they're translating their world.

::  what memories might look like stitched into cloth  ::

To that end

there's a new link over in the sidebar

::  INSTAGRAM  ::

won't you join me?

::  dreams of summer  ::

My intention is to build a library of images over there,

a collection of edits that won't necessarily appear here ...

experiments, new translations of old subject matter,

and a whole bunch of explorations

into the wide unknown.

There will undoubtedly be dogs,

beads,

dye pots,

 views around my hood,

and elsewhere this summer.

I'll be hash tagging the apps I use, to keep record

and also to share the work process

because some of my fondest successes have come from

following the footsteps of others who've shared theirs.

Wanna keep that circle going ...

I may not always have a lot of words,

but I'm never short of a picture or two.

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Dilapidated usefulness

It's been said that all roads lead to Rome
and in the case of my longstanding search for an old copper kettle,
this has proven true ...

I have found her.

Not too big,

not too small, 

but   just right.

Love at first sight, it was, because of this ...

how many hands have wrapped around that handle?

Held and poured?

A bit of historical sleuthing dredged up some interesting facts:

The current Revere Copper Products was founded in 1801 by Paul Revere.

Rome Manufacturing was established in 1892, a division
of Rome Brass Copper with production facilities in Rome, NY.
In 1928, a merge of five northeastern copper companies
produced the Revere Copper and Brass Corporation,
the largest copper manufacturer in the U.S.

Turns out this old gal is vintage Revere Ware.
She's a sweet wreck
with her pock marks and dents and peeling paint.
The thrift shop ladies were clearly perplexed
when I couldn't hand over my ten dollars fast enough.

Her days of useful service are far from over.

She may be past her prime for proper domestic service

but she can't be more perfect for my dye kitchen.

I hope she didn't think she was retired ...

: : :

In a stroke of serendipity, Hipstamatic released a new vintage-feel

lens/film combo pak

the same day I found my kettle ...

they call it Monti

so I took it for a test run.

All images are straight out of camera [iPhone]

no post-processing except to add copyright.

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this moment :: May Day .... wheeeeeeee!

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in  this moment

described thusly ...

A Friday ritual.  A single photo

~ no words ~

capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

:::

... today's reflections are  HERE.

You are welcome to share your moment, too.

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Kicking back

Been laying low ...

one moment at a time as they say while

my wonky tooth figured out what was gonna happen next.

I suppose one advantage to having a root canal during tulip season

is that driving to and fro across the Skagit valley

is nothing short of   splendid

and although I'm allergic to a large number of antibiotics

at least I am not allergic to Novocaine.

A  not-so-small blessing

that has kept me sane.

I stitched on the wishing cloth awhile

because there was calm in that

and admired the sea reflections having dance time in the belly of the boat.

But mainly I swooned over spring,

the miles of GLORIOUS color,

and although I won't be doing much of anything besides

watching my own grass grow the next couple of days

at least I tip-toed amongst them.

[apology to Tiny Tim for the lame reference]

What a surreal experience  ...  being ruled by a measly tooth.

: : :

See you a bit later.

I'm heading for the hammock.

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Seeing double

When I think back on the countless hours spent in darkrooms

attempting to create [at the least] something a little bit  interesting

by combining two disparate negatives into one print,

well, I sit here shaking my head.  Not a time waste exactly, no I wouldn't want to say that,

but I never was very good at it and I never did come up with

a single picture worth hanging onto.

What did happen, I guess, is that I never lost my love for composites

and recently when my faraway friend happened to post a super cool photo she

created with a phone app 

- an app I'd never heard of, one that superimposes two images, adds filters & effects 

all in about three seconds - 

let's just say

I couldn't download that puppy fast enough.

This app, named Diana Photo,

 has what I might venture to call an uncanny ability to "choose" which images

to stack together to bring out the best of both worlds

and in my case, it keeps choosing pairs that feel entirely significant and appropriate

to what I'm doing with life, my work, and how I feel about where I live at this moment.

Silly, really.

Of course an app can't  KNOW  but when Diana began to combine my dye bundles

with sand & sea 

and dyed cloths were superimposed with tree leaves & blossoms ...

you can see my point perhaps?

She even went so far as to match up one of the [rare] front-on portraits of dear dawg

with the driftwood piles on her favorite off-leash beach;

the very same driftwood she played on, photographed on her 4th birthday ...

two photos taken five years apart

from an album numbering in the thousands !

HOW does Diana know???

Tis not all serious stuff, not by a long shot.

Endless supplies of whimsy occur from the combos ...

dawg as evidence,

bedecked here with her own tail ...

all part of the rolling-the-dice fun & darn good for some fine belly chuckles

[although I think dawg would be mortified].

What I'm really after, what appeals most, is the symbolic double vision.

Hard to put into words ...

simplified, it's about taking a subject I've shot in one context,

"randomly" layering it with a subject from another, 

creating a final image that has - somehow - through overlapping effects,

intensified in meaning.

Double exposure.

So far I've had my beaded world appear

and seen my work under water here in this isolated island place I call home.

These have me looking at kinship to tides of all kinds

real and imagined ...

symbolically speaking, that is.

Here I am.

Self portrait within my watery world,

wondering how in the heck a little 99 cent app could have

brought up so much introspection.

:::

Diana Photo app for iPhone is HERE

for Android HERE

:::

Linking up with the gang over at Kim's place for Friday Finds

as this was truly my biggest "find" of the week ...

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