I’ve been asked on more than one occasion “What do you photograph?”  The question is not as easy to answer as it might seem.  So here is a partial list of what I’ve photographed in the past few years.

• An Austrian print of brain anatomy entitled “Gehirn des Menschen” from 1876
• A chicken foot painted black purchased in New York City
• An armadillo foot purchased in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco (at Loved to Death)
• A coyote skull purchased in Vermont at the Rustic Moose on route 30
• A deer skull with antlers found in the woods behind my house in Ashford, CT
• A newborn mouse found in my woodpile
• Wills cigarette exercise cards issued in 1914
• Mah jong tiles, cow bone and bamboo, late Qing dynasty around 100-150 years old
• A Shaw and Nodder hand-colored print, from The Naturalists Miscellany (c. 1789-1813), of the Broad Jointed Tape Worm or Taenia Vugaris (plate # 241)
• Bird feet liberated from a cat kill
• “The motion of Venus and Mercury in respect of the Earth” from “The Modern Encyclopedia or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Science & Literature” published in London, by Richards & Co., in 1822
• Two vintage clock faces purchased in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Heteropteryx Dilatata  – a lovely bug, referred to as a “walking stick” – only when it spread its wings was it noticeable
• Pomponia intermedia cicada – a very large cicada
• A weather-beaten globe remnant found on the side of the road
• Wishbones from various chickens I’ve eaten
• Two 1947 50 pesos gold coins
• Batocera wallacei procerpina  – a rather long beetle
• 19^th century Japanese woodblock print book “I Ching Edo”
• A Draco volans –  the flying lizard (glides up to 25 ft), found in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia
• Ganaea festiva – an orange colored cicada
• A kingfisher skull (orange beak)
• A muskrat skull
• Alliierte Militarbehorde Reichsmarks, Allied Military Currency, c. 1945
• Bone and ebony dominos (turn-of-the-century)
• Vintage 1950’s -60’s Four-Star brand “union made” bingo cards from the Mansfield flea market
• A cat skull (a gift from a student)
• Goose eggs from a friend
• Pseudochalcothea hasseltii (green beetle) from Sumatra
• Two three-inch rubber dolls purchased in Keene, NH
• Feathers from the white peacock who live on the Los Poblanos organic farm in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Pheasant feathers
• Turkey talons from Vermont
• An Imperial Debonair (camera) made by Herbert George Co. Chicago around 1960.
• A purple iris, orange daylily, red tulip, Andromeda blossoms, wild columbine, begonia blossoms, rhododendron blossoms, purple coneflower blossom, bleeding heart blossom, poinsettia leaves, Rose of Sharon blossoms, wisteria vine and high bush cranberry from my yard
• Four leaf clovers found pressed in a book
• A zither from the 1920’s (missing its strings)
• A 12” wrench with a wood handle that belonged to my wife’s grandfather
• Vintage violin pegs
• Sylvania blue tip flash bulbs (1940s or 50s)
• Tussock moth caterpillar from my yard
• Vole that my cat killed
• Costume jewelry fittings my brother found at the land fill in New Hampshire
• Vintage copper boiler (laundry tub)
• A papier-mâché Jol (1940’s or earlier)
• A 18^th century French black marble clock that belonged to my wife’s grandparents
• Various found and inherited sea shells (abalone, China clam, etc.)
• Marbled paper purchased in Florence, Italy
• 19^th century Meiji Japanese woodblock print book
• Abah River or Wallace’s Flying Frog from western Indonesia
• Three Stars Safety matches, made by the Jonkoping -Vulcan Co., Sweden, C. 1920s
• Robert E. Patrick’s (registered “ocularist”) hand painted human prosthetic eye from the 1940’s  “Eye experts are not educated, they are born… there is some of my heart and soul in every eye I make.”
• Life Everlasting herbal extract, S. W. Gould and Brothers Botanic Garden, Malden, Mass. C. 1900
• Vintage bisque doll arms with sleeves
• Skeletalized leaves
• Vintage, unpainted, bisque doll head from Brimfield Flea Market
• Victorian scrap album from my wife’s family, c. 1880’s
• Chinese alarm clock from the 1950’s
• Cat vertebra – a gift from a student
• German “Frozen Charlotte” doll (broken) pre – 30’s
• Composition doll, pre-40’s
• Vintage Kodak #13 sky filters, pre 50’s
• J.C. Higgins Mohawk shuttlecocks (real feathers)
• Hand noted music – Italian (late 19^th century)
• Tre Teste (Italy), Kor (Germany) razor blades c. 1930
• New York City  souvenir spoons c. 1900
• El Tiempo Mexican newspaper from 4 de Julio, 1938
• Blanchard’s Ye Old Town Ways 1903 pocket guide to greater New York
• Christian Advocate and Journal (newspaper), 1865 (New York City), that lines a trunk I bought at a flea market (advertising stereographic views of the war)
• Bones found in the forest (eastern CT) – not sure of what
• Tulles en Tous Genre, Belet Frere business letter dated 1875
• Dr. Lyna’s Worm Candy box made in Logansport , Indiana.  Dr. Lynas died in 1901 but his factory still made “cures” into the 1920’s.  I bought the box in 1988.
• American 1824 large cent penny I dug up when I was a kid
• Bone with barnacles I found on an island off the coast of Maine
• Small, pea-sized yellow shells from the coast of Maine
• Stone Buddha head that usually resides in my garden
• Pierrot clown with geese French postcard, early 20^th century
• 1895-6 Smithsonian bird egg print (plate VI)
• Keystone magic lantern glass slide – half section of a fish
• Keystone magic lantern glass slide – plants in a drop of water
• 1909 French receipt
• 1908 French shoemaker receipt
• 1904 Nile Fortune Cards (Sphinx) made by the United States Playing Card Company
• Toy carousel tin horse approx 6”
• WWII  Japanese newspaper with photos from the war
• Seahorse from the Andaman Islands
• Daguerreotype case with mother of pearl inlay
• Vintage French Fructines-Vichy laxative tin
• Official no. 2 Apex wooden darts with turkey feathers made in Norristown, Penn.
• A small snake found in an azalea bush
• Anoplophora zonatrix (black and white) beetle from Thailand
• 19^th century daguerreotype in case
• My grandmother’s bronze “swami” good luck coin, “The All Seeing Eye Guards You from Evil” with swastika, heart-padlock, four-leaf clover, elephant, horseshoe, rabbit foot, wishbone, c. 1930’s
• Book The Problem of Human Life Here and Hereafter, published 1877 (a tirade against Darwin)
• Vintage pickle and jig fishing lures
• Antique outside caliper
• Vintage wooden large format film holders
• Picturesque Ireland, published by Thomas Kelly 1877
• My father’s tooth, which he extracted himself shortly before he died
• My father’s stamp collection from the early 1960s
• Antique skeleton keys, assorted sizes (including a very large key to Nicholas Faulkner’s front door, 1850)
• Milk glass, crystal cake dish, crystal bowl, silver trivet…
• Watches with exposed gears
• Hand-made lace of indeterminate age
• An 1870 Old Farmer’s Almanac
• Normal Review System of Writing, Silver Burdett & Company, 1894 and 1900
• Pure Gold for the Sunday School, by Lowry and Doane, 1897

We just returned from our second trip to New Mexico and third trip to the Southwest in four years.  New Mexico – the Land of Enchantment – is the 5th largest state in square miles and the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S. state.   We stuck to the more populous areas: Santa Fe (with a mere 75,000 residents) and Albuquerque (with half a million residents).    In fact, about ¼ of New Mexico’s population lives in Albuquerque.   They say that New Mexico has more sheep and cattle than people.   They also say that Santa Fe has one of the largest (second largest) concentration of art galleries in North America.  Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, is the oldest and highest capital city in the U.S. – high as in 7,000 feet above sea level.   One website boasts that Santa Fe has more than 225 restaurants, 250 art galleries, 70 jewelry shops, 13 museums and one world-famous opera.  Albuquerque, on the other hand, is home to the state’s single largest employer – the University of New Mexico.   Albuquerque – where the high desert abuts the swimming pool.  It was 100+ degrees in Albuquerque.  The hiking trails and parks were closed from Albuquerque to Santa Fe due to the drought and “extreme” fire risk.  We could see long brownish smoke plumes from a forest fire in the distance.  So far, in 2011, Albuquerque has seen less than 2/10 of an inch of rain.

A pit stop on the “Turquoise Trail,” or route 14, a 50-mile highway that connects Santa Fe to Albuquerque.

The Acoma Pueblo is located 60 miles west of Albuquerque off Interstate 40 and about 12 miles from the (Acoma) Sky City Casino. The historic pueblo village is geographically a small part of the reservation. Much of everything else is desert vista with sporadic, magnificent mesas. While we were photographing, the Acoma (sovereign nation) Police paid a visit (with lights flashing). Our permits ($10 each) were checked and we were sternly warned not to step off (literally) the road. Permits were only valid if your feet were firmly planted on pavement and tripods were not allowed.

Acoma Pueblo, also known as "Sky City", was built on top of a 367-foot sandstone mesa. Settled around 1100, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. They say about 50 Acomans live there year round and other Acomans (that still own their ancestral clan homes) return for ceremonies and festivals. The view from the Acoma Pueblo was stunning.

Acoma Pueblo has a guided tour that is (in my opinion) well worth the price of admission. It is lock step and tourists are not allowed to wander off. The village has no electricity or running water. Largely interconnected, multi-layered, added-onto adobe structures make up the central village. The edge of the mesa is lined with brightly colored porta-potties. I can’t help but imagine a teenage prankster employing an irresistible shove to tip over and send his little brother on an unexpected porta-potty bobsled ride down the mesa.

Spring flows into summer.  It’s Father’s Day, the last weekend of spring.   For the occasion, I thought I’d post some images of my two sons.  They are from a few years ago, part of a series I called Boys’ Life (after the classic scout magazine).   My boys (ages 16 and 13) are no longer (in so many ways) the boys in these photos.  It is indeed bittersweet.

Just In Case

Nouveau Vishnu

The Folly Of Pets

Twice In One Day

Today’s the last Monday in May, Memorial Day.  When I was a kid my mother would bring flowers to the local cemetery on Memorial Day.  I think the cemetery was called Mount Pleasant – it was our family’s “final resting place.”  Mount Pleasant is neither on a mountain nor particularly pleasant.  For my mother Memorial Day was an occasion to pause and remember all the dear departed, not just those who served in the military.  As a kid I thought Memorial Day should be called Cemetery Day.  My parents moved decades ago to another state far from family and friends and the Mount Pleasant Memorial Day tradition came to an end.  This year my father found his way back to Mount Pleasant Cemetery (and the company of his own parents) and sure enough, my mother arranged to have fresh flowers put on his grave.  I thought I’d post this new image today, another in the series of still lifes I began about a year ago.  And yes, this image does relate, at least indirectly, to my father’s military service (thus the timing/Memorial Day post).  He served in World War II with the marines that first occupied Japan.  At one point he flew over Hiroshima or Nagasaki (I don’t remember which) and saw the devastation from the sky.   My father spent a week dying this fall (as his organs failed) and was lucid for the first few days, during which time he talked about his time as a marine.  To the best of my knowledge my father never fought – was not in combat – he served behind the lines.  But I think his experience as a marine very much shaped who he was.   In many ways, it was probably the highlight of his life.  It made me wonder what I’d be thinking about on my death bed.

It seems my father’s health was deteriorating in the weeks before his heart attack that marked the beginning of the end. My mother said that he was complaining that his teeth were wiggly. He did not have many teeth left. The last time he saw a dentist he was a marine. It was 1944. All I know for sure is that war era dentistry left him shell-shocked. After he passed my mother found this tooth on top of his bureau. He obviously extracted it himself. How and why will remain a mystery. The newspaper is Japanese, published before the war ended. When my father retired, he bought a loom and tried weaving. I positioned the strands of blood red yarn to reference the WWII Japanese navy/army flag. The yarn was leftover from a scarf my father made twenty years ago. Seems like yesterday.

I have not posted in months.  It is almost summer.  I just returned from a leisurely walk around the loop that takes me from my house, on a short path through the woods, and down a dirt road that ends at the top of a hill with a lovely view of rolling farmland.   The rest of the way home is on paved roads and I pass by a complex of dilapidated barns where turkey vultures love to roost.  Two of the smaller barns could not withstand the weight of our record-setting snow this winter.  They imploded back in March.  This week they were bulldozed away.

This skeletal red barn is gone for good. I made this photo last summer.

This vista from last summer is not the same this May.

Since I was thinking about Mansfield barns and winter, I thought I’d post this photo from a few winters ago. Shortly after the image was made, the leaning silo succumbed to gravity.

Here are some snapshots from a trip I took with my wife (who planned the excursion) and two teenage sons to San Francisco between Christmas and New Years.  We left Christmas Day, just missing the big storm that paralyzed travel in the northeast.  We rented a wonderful, spacious apartment in a 1907 house in the Nob Hill area (www.VRBO.com/302341).  We did all the tourist things, hiked the neighborhoods, rode a cable car, saw the murals in the Coit Tower, visited the Palace of Fine Arts, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, explored Lands End, took a bus to Haight Ashbury, took the boat to Alcatraz at sunset, had a fun guided tour of China Town with Linda Lee (highly recommended), visited the SF Museum of Modern Art, went to Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais….. saw a great performance at Teatro Zinzanni.  And that was just our first day…  I love being a tourist with a camera.  It’s like washing down a good burger with a cold beer.  However, my favorite pic from this trip was made by my 13-year-old son, Aidan.

All those wires – Filbert Street, North Beach, Telegraph Hill area (on our way to Coit Tower).

Before sunset, from the Cliff House, I could see something pink and fluttering down by the Sutro Baths. I did not expect for a moment it would be wrapped around a person. As I descended along the path I was surprised to find a young lady in high heels and a party dress draped in a swirl of pink chiffon. The wind was raging. I watched as she got down on all fours to maintain balance, stay out of the water and keep her dress from continually blowing over her head.

China Town – I was disappointed to find that a similar pic graces the cover of a current SF travel guide. It supports my suspicion that I have not made an original image since about 1989.

My 13-year-old son Aidan lay on his belly on the Golden Gate Bridge to get this shot. Bikes whizzed by and no one stepped on him. Miracles do happen.

I’m beginning to feel like a practitioner of a new and makeshift form of genteel voodoo and each fresh photograph becomes a spell or incantation.  In so many ways, photography is magical.  It’s easy to get carried away by the process.  I recently told someone (with a straight face) that I make photographs to ward off evil.  I have not posted any pics in awhile.  So I thought I’d start with some still life made in December and January (they are works in progress).

I set out to make a picture for my annual Christmas card. One thing led to another and this is what I came up with. I didn’t use it. But somehow, I think it kept my new cat from toppling the tree.

I am tentatively calling this Luck. So far, so good.

I made this to commemorate my very recent 50th birthday. It is open to interpretation.

The week before Thanksgiving last year I photographed what was left of the jack-o’-lanterns my wife and youngest son carved for Halloween.  I thought I’d do it again this year.  This time around, they seemed mushier.  My timing was off by a day or two.   The Jacks from 2009 were the first images I posted on this blog – under the heading “Knowing Jack.”

My father passed away this fall.  He served in WWII.  They played taps at his funeral.  His father (my grandfather) was gassed in WWI.  His father (my great grandfather) served as a naval officer during the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII (he died at sea).  This still life was made for Veterans Day.  The WWI era Barclay lead soldiers are standing on the November 11, 1918 edition of the Washington Post with the headline:  “Armistice Signed.”

Armistice Day