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Darkness Rising

This time of year the dark arrives early and doesn’t leave until almost 8 am. There is only a little more than a week left before solstice. And then the days begin to lengthen once again. At this season of the year, darkness is a more insistent thing than cold. The days are short as any dream. ― E.B. White, Essays of E.B. White But right now it’s still the time of Darkness Rising here and perhaps in the world as well. This week I came across an article about economist, E. F. Schumacher that took me back in time. Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Go Beyond the Personal

I read a quote recently that has gotten me thinking. Photographer, Keith Carter suggests that if you really want to create something special you need to Go Beyond the Personal into the realm of connection with everything and everyone. This idea resonates for me and explains the kind of yearning I feel when I look at the photographs that I make that aren’t quite there yet (which is almost all of my photographs). I think you go through stages in making art. In the first stages you get excited about the medium itself. It offers a very immediate kind of Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

What Do You See?

I often hear photographers saying that they don’t find anything to photograph outside this time of year. With the cold and the barren landscape nothing appeals to them. Sometimes I feel that way too, but then I ask myself… What do you see when you look closely or when you widen your gaze? What beauty can you find in this seemingly barren landscape? Sometimes I simply stand still and look with soft eyes allowing the scene to soak into my very cells. Though I’m not very enthusiastic about going out in the cold initially, I find when I do go Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Food for the Soul

I spent a lot of time looking at the photographs of photographers that I admire this morning. This practice of looking at the creative work of others is Food for the Soul for me and inspiration for my creative spirit. Making photographs is also food for the soul for me. This morning I saw a crow walking around on the ice-covered pond behind our house. I am fascinated with birds of all kinds, and crows—common as they are—always delight me. So I grabbed my camera and switched to my long lens and photographed the crow. Through the telephoto lens I Read more…

By Marilyn, ago