Diverse Dialoguing, Narratives, Art & Inspiration
In July 2023 I took a walk to the nearby community garden to take pictures with my macro lens. Among the many beautiful plants there, this Zinnia caught my eye.
Highlighted in this image is the colorful and intricate center portion called a flowering head or capitulum. I appreciate the detail afforded by the lens and it gave me an even deeper awareness of the beautiful nuances that surround us.
The Aon building, in downtown Chicago, has a variety of waterfalls and fountains. This black and white photograph, taken in September 2012, is a portion of the veritable labyrinth of water in motion and its corresponding intricacies, changing moment by moment.
Specifically, as I remember, one of the entrances to the Aon complex was directly off Randolph Street and led down, via staircase or elevator, to the courtyard below, which, itself, has a beautiful fountain.
On either side of the stairway/elevator are two waterfalls which begin very near street level and fall to the courtyard area below.
Another picture in our Etsy Shop taken that day is Flowers – Untitled #6.
I’ve seen this view, or something very similar, countless numbers of times. The sun setting beyond the horizon framing Lake Michigan and the ever-present lighthouse and pier in Michigan City, Indiana.
Taken in June 2008 this picture is one of many that I have taken of the sunsets, the waves, the lighthouse; from different angles, in different days and seasons of the year. There are times when I have gone to the lake to enjoy and, perhaps, photograph a sunset, that I have found, often, especially during the Spring and Summer months, that silent crowds will gather, enjoying the event in their own, unique ways.
Like most moments, but, for me, especially the grandeur of the sunsets, there are never two quite the same. I could be at exactly the same spot at any other given day and invariably something changes; the motion of the lake, the clouds. So many subtleties or greater changes, taken together, can give a completely different look, feel, impression, story than what seemed so evident before, is now so different.
It is such a beautiful, unfolding tale being told. We get to witness that moment, all those years ago, together.
Another picture taken that same evening that you can find in our Etsy Shop is Untitled #81.
Paths like this crisscross the sand dunes that lie in close proximity to Lake Michigan, the area I call home; the place I’ve spent so many hours traversing both as a child and an adult.
I love this picture, from June 2008, for two multifaceted reasons. First, I love the geographical composition. The clouds, the sky, the sand, the grass, the lake, the shadows, all blending in a beautiful harmony but each element commanding its own unique attention. But then, secondly, I love the emotional, transcendent elements.
I could remain in that exact spot and ponder the physical elements of color, texture, the breeze blowing off the lake, the lengthening shadows, the feeling of the warm sand squishing between my toes. And yet, there is the sense of adventure and discovery as I consider what the next few steps to the top will reveal. What beauty? What color? What will the larger view of the lake, and perhaps beyond, reveal to me?
For me, it is like a picture of life. Embracing the moments, but reveling in the hope and expectation of the goodness of what lies ahead.
This is a picture of a honey locust tree. The tree is profusely covered with thorns. They are real, they are sharp, and they do hurt!
I present this picture in black and white, which is almost a true representation of the tree and its accompanying thorns as both are a dark grey to black. I feel like the timing on this picture is ideal with respect to the angle of the sun as the shadows of the thorns add highlight to this most interesting tree.
We captured this image in September 2022 at the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. Another picture in our shop from that day is Untitled #58.
As I continue to say in these stories, we are blessed to live so near the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois.
This picture of a red maple, taken in October 2022, as the Fall colors began to emerge, is next to Lake Marmo, one of our favorite places in the Arboretum.
We walked around the lake that day and from the side opposite the tree we saw, and captured, this beautiful tree and its reflection in the water.
Other pictures taken that day that appear in our Etsy Shop are Landscape – Untitled #49, Landscape – #50, and Trees – #68.
This is a picture of Bristle Grass, one of several names given to this plant, but a good general description, nonetheless. Taken in September 2022, it is part of the wonderful abundance that we find near our home in the community garden.
Over the years, in my role as a photographer, I have found myself drawn more and more to the moments, the details, the nuances, not only in the physical environment, Nature, Creation, or what you are comfortable calling “it,” but in life in general. It is those “things,” in abundance, every day, every moment, all around us, that only ask that we take the time to notice. It is a gentle, peaceful beckoning to slow down for a bit and become aware of all of the beauty that surrounds us in so many forms. I yielded to this invitation of the structure, form, texture, and surroundings of the Bristle Grass that September day.
One more picture from that day, Untitled #97, can be found in our Esty Shop.
This “otherworldly” picture, taken in April 2009, is actually a reflection of that day’s cloudy sky reflected off the stainless-steel surface of the $23 million sculpture, by artist Anish Kapoor, formally known as Cloud Gate but affectionately known as “The Bean.”
It’s a fun picture that opens a way to the imagination. The fact that I took it on a partly cloudy day and the formal name of this Chicago icon is pretty apropos, considering.
Like many others, I’ve taken dozens of pictures of “The Bean.” Two other pictures that contain this Chicago landmark are found in our Etsy Shop. You can also find the stories behind Untitled #16 and Untitled #17 along with their pictures and link to our shop in this website.
Carrie and I visited Matthiessen State Park in LaSalle County, Illinois in November, 2016.
We are walking along a riverbed that in the spring is usually swollen with rushing water from the winter melt-off. On that day, however, the melting snow and Summer rains are past and there is only a trickle compared to earlier in the year.
This once plentiful waterfall is host to just this smaller, gentler cascade that also reveals how the heavier flows have cut into the surrounding rock. We loved the serenity afforded to us on that Fall day and the memories of the gentle sounds of the water and the breeze still remind us of that beautiful beautiful, peaceful day together.
On the north side of the Chicago River, near the Lake Shore Drive Bridge, in the Near North Side, Streeterville, River East area, lies the Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain. It features a very interesting and engaging series of waterfalls and a water cannon.
One feature, in particular, is a circular waterfall that visitors can actually “enter” and view from the inside looking out. There is a circular “roof,” above the enclosed viewing area where the water is pumped, and this water falls in about a 270-degree circular waterfall. If one is “inside,” you can look at the water cascading down, unhindered, to the structure below.
In this August 2010 picture, I am, in fact “inside” the structure with the water falling around me. I was able to use a very fast shutter speed which produced this part of the waterfall as if the motion were frozen in that moment.
It is a fascinating complex of many waterfalls in a relatively small area which treats the observer to countless angels and perspectives; a never-ending array of visual possibilities.