Light Escapes Gravity

Star Flies Through Tree

Star Flies Through Tree

As the coronavirus takes over our lives, I feel the need for light to chase away the extreme seriousness of COVID-19. The gravity of the situation pulls on all of us. It threatens to take away the good times and an innate optimism that a future exists to hold the best for our family and community.

Against the backdrop of daily statistics and political stances on masks and reopening, I look for places that lighten my spirit and lift me beyond the dire circumstances of souls departing. Searching for meaning, I take a positive view in response to the virus. There falls light on the road ahead to help us escape these times.

Prints from the Light Escapes Gravity portfolio are available for purchase.

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Lingering Lens

As a new member of the Princeton Photography Club, I have the opportunity to give a presentation of some of my photo work. I am the first of three presenters on Thursday February 20 at 7:30pm.

The presentation is titled “Lingering Lens: Long Exposure as Cinematic Moment” and compiles a diverse selection of subject matter with the common thread that all are images taken with a long exposure. I will explore how a "decisive moment" presents in more ways than the usual split-second. The resulting images may suggest a story in the unfolding, a smidgen of cinema in a single frame.

The event is held at D & R Greenway Land Trust, 1 Preservation Pl, Princeton, NJ 08540.

New Encounters

Encounter At Fenwick

The opportunity to try something different lingers right outside our consciousness, a bit like a quiet little cat by the backdoor. Come say hi to me anytime, it says, as we walk past taking the same worn path to making an image. How about today, it asks, patiently waiting because the opportunity-cat never leaves.

I recently made some new composite images and am enjoying a creative opening and fresh approach to what’s possible for me. I accepted the ever-present invitation to experiment, reach out a bit, take a different route on the way to work. In doing so, I feel freer to make images that I had not considered and refine how I am seeing light and perspective as i make new photographs.

You too may have noticed your own opportunity-cat hanging about. Maybe it is time to say hi, and have a new encounter with what’s possible to do.

The image “Encounter At Fenwick” is in the 9th Annual InVision Juried Photo-Based Art Exhibition in Bethlehem, PA

All Zebras Have Stripes - Just Like Me

Outside Inside

Have you noticed that all zebras have stripes? At least all those that I’ve seen have this same basic attribute that distinguishes them. And while there may be differences between zebra herds (tribes?) that experts may detect, bottom line there is a commonality that all zebras share.

I bring this up because of the current conversations around immigration, race and gender preference. I’m not an activist but I feel as an artist that I should bring something to the conversation. Are we not all human beings, like zebras, sharing common feelings and desires? I believe nearly everyone wants a better future for all of us, for our children and families. And everyone has both love to give, and makes mistakes or gets angry sometimes. I feel there’s is so much more in others that is just like me, human being John, than different. Our “stripes” that makes us human are to me the more important details than what country we or our ancestors came from, or who we love, or the color of our skin.

I created the image “Outside Inside” to contribute to this conversation. This print is in the Transformations exhibition at the PA Center for Photography in Doylestown, PA.