quarante-deux: Lessons Learned

Diana F+

Fuji Neopan (I think...)

Antelope Island State Park, Utah

Summer 2009

A lesson from each class, so far.

Environmental Literature: Gabriel Garcia Marquez', A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. A short story of magical realism so worth reading. The epitome of how easily human greed can turn curiosity into spectacle, and then trample all over it.

French: Nous sommes des animaux sauvages. :)

Open Space Design: New York City's High Line. A raised railway built in the 1930's that, after undergoing threat of demolition in the 1980's, was retrofitted into a breathtaking park in the air. What a beautiful idea. There is hope afterall.



quarante et un: The View From Above

Fisheye 2

Agfa CT Precisa

Summer 2010

Salt Lake City, Utah

Sometimes, the view from above really opens your eyes. If it weren't for the mountains that surround us here in Salt Lake City, I wonder how far we'd let the sprawl go. But then again, the mountains can't even stop us. I guess in my mind, just because humans have the powerful ability to build whatever and wherever we see fit, doesn't necessarily mean we should. Birds need a home too. And I think most prefer trees to concrete.

quarante: Suddenly I Realize

Holga

Fuji Provia

Arches National Park, Utah

October 2010

Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

trente-neuf: What A Feeble Thing You Are

LCA

Kodak Tri-X & Agfa CT Precisa
Seal Beach, California

March 2008

Long Ago Photos of Me by Bransen Samuelsen

I have come back, and still the sea
keeps sending me strange foam.
It does not get used to the way I see.
The sand does not recognize me.

It makes no sense to return
to the ocean without warning -
it does not know you return
or even that you were away,
and the water is so busy
with all its blue business
that arrivals go unrealized.
The waves keep up their song
and although the sea has many hands,
many mouths and many kisses,
no hand reaches out to you;
no mouth kisses you;
and you soon must realize
what a feeble thing you are.
By now we thought we were friends,
we come back with open arms,
and here is the sea, dancing away,
not bothering us.

I will have to wait for the fog,
the flying salt, the scattered sun,
for the sea to breath and breath on me;
because water is not just water
but a hazy intrusion,
and the waves roll on in the air
like invisible horses.

- Strangers on the Shore by Pablo Neruda


Last night I had a dream that I sailed all the way round this blue planet.
Today I'm seasick.

trente-huit: Denied To The End

Fisheye 2

Agfa CT Precisa

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah

July 2010

Living   in the earth deposits   of our history

Today a backhoe divulged   out of a crumbling flank of earth

one bottle   amber   perfect   a hundred-year-old

cure for fever   or melancholy   a tonic

for living on this earth   in the winters of this climate

Today I was reading about Marie Curie:

she must have known she suffered   from radiation sickness

her body bombarded for years   by the element

she had purified

It seems she denied to the end

the source of the cataracts on her eyes

the cracked and suppurating skin   of her finger-ends

till she could no longer hold   a test tube or pencil

She died   a famous woman   denying

her wounds

denying

her wounds   came   from the same source as her power

- Power by Adrienne Rich

trente-sept: What Frees You?

Holga
Fuji Provia
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
June 2010

"One cannot always tell what it is that keeps us shut in, confines us, seems to bury us, but still one feels certain barriers, certain gates, certain walls. Is all this imagination, fantasy? I do not think so. And then one asks: My God! Is it for long, is it forever, is it for eternity? Do you know what frees one from this captivity? It is very deep serious affection. Being friends, being brothers, love - that is what opens the prison by supreme power, by some magic force."

     -Vincent van Gogh   

School is on the horizon for me. And I am feeling so ready to be back up on that hill. It's been a nice break - don't get me wrong. A very nice, much needed vacation. But soon I will be immersed in Open Space Design, French and Environmental Literature. Three things that I absolutely adore. Who could ask for more?

trente-six: Infinity In The Palm of Your Hand

Holga
Fuji Provia
Uinta Mountains, Utah
Summer 2009

 

To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower,

hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.

 

- William Blake