There are moments which mark your life. Moments when you realize nothing will ever be the same and time is divided into two parts, before this, and after this… Sometimes you can feel such a moment coming.
Fallen, 1998

I’m excited about this addition to my new and totally random series called “Windows.” I have to say that finding windows that are interesting enough to photograph (and talk about) isn’t as easy as I thought. After my last post, The Clones, a fellow blogger reminded me of one of the things that is so special about street photography:

“Street photography is special to me because . . . it celebrates humanity – the photos captured are so one of a kind and can never be duplicated again because that person (or people) will never be the same they were in that moment and neither will the setting.“

That is so true, and is actually one of the reasons that I love street photography myself. Looking through a lens—or a Smartphone in this particular case—is like looking through windows of time. You have the opportunity to capture a special moment, a moment that will never happen again. That is absolutely precious, and makes me wonder if some of those people who overdo the selfies understand that concept, because they know they’ll never be in that moment again.

Anyway, I went through and selected four images that I really liked from that night, that can also be tied together, and then I forced myself to do only TWO edits. Cropping, and a black and white conversion using Nik Collection (and some mood setting with contrast and style). I’m really happy with these, and it was an exercise in self-control to not butcher them with my manipulations so that the images remain “pure and unadulterated,” if you will.

So, here are the “windows of time” that I’ve captured with a little “superhero” theme…

This next one made me laugh because these men made a point of approaching the statue to look, but they didn’t feel the need to take a selfie. I gave it a little newspaper effect because these men thought the statue was important enough to look at while most people either take a selfie and move on… or walk by without noticing it.

Lastly… this final photo captures those true superheroes that we all know and love…

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
Leo Tolstoy

That’s about all for now. I hope you enjoyed these windows of time!

Peace & love to you all…

iPhoneimages, Photography, windows

Windows of Time

Life among clones would not be worth living, and a sane person will only rejoice that others have abilities that they do not share. That should be elementary.
Noam Chomsky, Chomsky on Anarchism

I thought I’d take a break from the window series, and my story rewrites, to do something for no apparent reason. My son and I went to dinner the other night and I pulled out my iPhone to take some snaps. I was actually looking for windows… but there were so many people out, and cool backgrounds or props (some images to come at a later date) that I decided to do a little street photography. I absolutely love that genre, but I never do it myself so it’s not really my forte. Practice, practice, practice!

Anyway, I wanted to do something with this photograph because I managed to capture the young man with a movie theater in the background that appears deserted—as if no one else was around. But then he looked a bit sad, or lonely, so I decided to clone the fella and give him some identical companions.

If I could have three more of me,

How happy I would be.

We’d be our own best friends, and then,

I’d always have company!

iPhoneimages, Photography

The Clones

He took one last drag,

A piece of his heart, missing.

Gone, like crypto dust.

My son got into crypto awhile back and I’ve been very curious about it. I’ve asked him a lot of questions, and the more he explains things to me, the more I don’t understand. Ha! So, I’ve been looking into it more in my spare time, and I’ve seen the mention of “crypto dust” quite a few times lately. That being said, it was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge: Drag & Dust.

My artwork is a bit strange. I thought that a man dragging on a cigarette was actually a good metaphor for heartbreak. Kind of like a prisoner’s “last request.” I hope that’s not too gloomy. I hate gloomy. Maybe it’s not a girl that broke his heart… maybe he’s sad because he lost all of his money in the crypto market. I don’t know.

I was going to add smoke, or white dust, but I ended up liking the simplicity of it. Anyway, it felt good to do something spontaneous… so there you have it.

That’s about all for now. Thanks for reading!

—Janet

Art, Haiku

Like Dust, a Haiku

Art, The Journey, Unteach Me

Rewriting Your Story

The Icing on the Cake

The original writing on this little piece of cyber real estate was published on October 3, 2016. It came to life when I was seven months sober, so it has been parked on WordPress for nearly five years—and it has served as the second mini-chapter of the tale of my recovery—a story that was titled “Unteach Me.”

Continue reading →

Poetry, windows, writing

Memories Cherished

I can see the roses,

Engraved atop your door,

Like a photograph,

Etched into my mind.