A WORD ABOUT WORDS

In a website ostensively about photography one expects images with a bit of explanation.

However, my photography subject is the earth and my studies of what we have done to the earth convince me that it may only be a matter of time before it becomes uninhabitable. The warnings of catastrophe by the UN: Time Is Running Out lead to efforts that are piddling compared to the problems that must be solved.

The image I carry with me is of a humanity with blinders and without courage. Given that the Earth is a miraculous gift to us, there are no words to describe the despair I feel.

How could this be true? My speculation is that the fear of death, of non-existence, lies deep within many of us. The problem is that we find ways to deal with this that cover over the problem rather than solving it. There is no other explanation for murderous use of force to secure domination or hoarding money to secure an illusion of security.

Of course all of us think we are right. However, the only truth I will accept is the limited yet astonishing reach of science, of which I have significant training and a life-long interest, beginning with cosmology when I was in my teens.

But science, despite incredible accomplishments, cannot deal with our fear of non-existence when we die, nor can it even propose a way to an answer. So we are stuck. Almost.

After all is said and done, literally, after all words and equations are written or spoken there is left something. What is left is creativity, beauty and joy. How do I know? I have been there. I have been with science, psychology, philosophy, religion and eventually found these: kindness, empathy, music and the visual arts. However, these only work if you know them as well as you know your best friend. When depression overwhelms, five (5) seconds of Chopin played by a virtuoso evaporate a boundry between me and, for want of a better word, heaven. The same happens in synchronicity with my wife, Susan. (By the way, my marriage proposal was brief: “And then there’s Mahler...” Those who know Mahler will know.)

So that is a rough draft of how I think, but I won’t stop there. Below are two examples: the canopies of trees that give us air to breath plus a stunningly beautiful sample of Chopin. (If you know the movie The Pianist I believe this is the music that saved the Polish virtuoso from death for it even dissolved Nazi hatred.)

FOREWORD

Dreamed Brook

Interstate Highway 495, Littleton, Massachusetts July 1987 cat. 0181