Split Personality

Split Personality, a photo by Anelise Zimmer on Flickr.

I really like this idea. It spurred an idea for a senior photo for the overachieving graduate.

Picture: the student trying to keep all the sports, activities, and work the did in high school into one locker.

Ahh Sequim

Ahh Sequim, the land of rest..ing homes. The land where the coffee house close earlier than the library. The land where you are more likely to get run down by and elderly woman mistaking the accelerator for the brake pedal, than be rushed by a businessman late for work. The land where complaining in open public about how life used to be, "In my lifetime..."is lauded as a way of life. Where tourists out number populace. Where the Burkenstocks out number the loafers, just barely. Where people push for sidewalks to enjoy before they die. Where women still carry address books, and the internet is a new fangled thing. Ahh the land of Sequim.

Front Porch Jam

The only sounds that can be heard
Amongst the cars and crickets
The scratches of writer's pen to page
and musician's pick to string.

FRONT PORCH JAM

Stoop Spiritual
Sing the night away
Remiss, fill the dawn
Bless You, Bless Us all

Foot taps, guitar strums
Lift away all the cares of the other world
Hair undone, blanket drawn tight
No need to wait for anything

They congregate trickling in slowly
Black cat strolls
Meandering by
At his own pace
At one with the night, at one with himself

The player sings his songs
Not for the approval of his audience
but for the pure pleasure of playing
the joy of music in the air...

The World of Words

Humans cannot understand what they cannot put to words. Words are what societies rely upon to communicate and interpret the world. The world has seen how words strung together into phrases and phrases strung together into speeches have brought the masses to their knees with tears and rallied the angry mobs to rise up and grab their pitchforks in salute. All of this action is the result of the words that stirred their hearts. With these moving shows of words there has come a need to create and produce, to invent and experiment with language. Words are vital to a prosperous society. Yet words alone do not have any intrinsic value.

The words that are used to communicate could really be any other word or phrase. Yet people got together out of a need to relate to one another and decided that ‘tree’ meant the tall thing that had branches coming out of it that yielded fruits. However, even with this system certain emotions and elements of life are left without a concrete or tangible explanation. “…we use that same system of symbols to communicate all the abstract and intangible things that we're experiencing. What is, like, frustration? Or what is anger or love?”

Words are mankind’s way of communicating with each other on a higher level other than just grunts and body language. Words are really just more defined grunts with meaning. Unless the meaning of the word is known by the person using it and the person receiving it, it is more or less useless.  Words are what people and societies make them out to be.

“When I say ‘love,’ the sound comes out of my mouth and it hits the other person's ear, travels through this Byzantine conduit in their brain, you know, through their memories of love or lack of love, and they register what I'm saying and they say yes, they understand. But how do I know they understand? Because words are inert. They're just symbols. They're dead, you know?”

Words can show worlds of imagination; they can harness the true nature of love and release it on the page. Words put into eloquent prose can bring the hardest person with a heart of stone to tears. Words are dead. It is the writer and the user that bring life to them. “And yet, you know, when we communicate with one another, and we feel that we've connected, and we think that we're understood, I think we have a feeling of almost spiritual communion. And that feeling might be transient, but I think it's what we live for.”

Words have expanded the world from the grunting Neanderthals of old to the mass production of words today. Language has evolved with societies to fit their ever changing need. Words adapt to new meanings and encompass new realms of thought. And as with any change there will be the innovators and the cynics. The everyday written word has now expanded to include text lingo and emoticons. “Each September Jacqueline Harding prepares a classroom presentation on the common writing mistakes she sees in her students’ work. … This September, she has added a new list: u, r, ur, b4, wuz, cuz, 2.”

The art of communication is constantly being observed as lost on the younger generations. Whether it is through the constant instant-messaging or their newfangled lingo, this generation will be the death of language, just like every other generation before it. Is it the perceived abuse of the current language or is it the change that grates at the edges of the critics?

“Ms. Brecker once handed in a midterm exam riddled with instant-messaging shorthand. ‘I had an hour to write an essay on Romeo and Juliet,’ she said, ‘I just wanted to finish before my time was up. I was writing fast and carelessly. I spelled ‘you’ ‘u.’ She got a C.”

In today’s society, communication and social interactions occur through the wonders of the written word captured by electronics. However unless a person is very eloquent in their instant-messaging or online communications their message can sometimes be misunderstood. The meanings of words change with their context and their phrasing.

“…today’s students are ‘Generation Text.’ Almost 60 percent of the online population under age 17 uses instant messaging, according to Nielson/NetRatings. In addition to cellphone text messaging, Weblogs and email, it has become a popular means of flirting, setting up dates, asking for help with homework and keeping in contact with distant friends. The abbreviations are a natural outgrowth of this rapid-fire style of communication.”

The accessibility of the printed word is lowering its value. It is as simple as supply and demand in economics. With the increase in supply, the demand will subsequently lower, therefore decreasing its value. Generations past have fought and died for the written word, and now societies everywhere are able to convey a 140 character thought for the entire world to see. Is it that words and the process of using them is now underappreciated or is it simply a new step in the evolution of the written word meant to cherish and support its prosperity?

"It's not just the woman that died," said Montag. "Last night I thought about all the kerosene I've used in the past ten years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of the books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought that thought before." He got out of bed. "It took some man a lifetime maybe to put some of his thoughts down, looking around at the world and life, and then I came along in two minutes and boom! it's all over."

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows the reader a world where books are burned and knowledge is far less reaching than as in today’s time. The written word contains great power, a power that has probably not even been fully tapped into. "So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless.”

With the profundity of the written word, can also come the difference of opinion. This differing is what empowers the words. A phrase can be used, in one context, to support an idea, and in the next instance it is turned around to defy. The right wielder of words can do all this and much more simply with the power of language. "What traitors books can be! You think they're backing you up, and they turn on you. Others can use them, too, and there you are, lost in the middle of the moor, in a great welter of nouns and verbs and adjectives."

The true value of words is in the mind of the user. A word may be nothing to the lay man. Whereas the need for a word to the writer who just can't think of that word that is just out of reach is invaluable. For the man who speaks in riddles, words are is weapon of choice. As with the progression of societies, words will continue to grow and multiply like rabbits in a cage. Although something is different and strange does not immediately indicate that it is also vile and prone to distasteful acts. Shakespeare was not completely embraced with his, now considered to be genius, works. Words will continue to expand the way of thinking and with any hope will continue to be cherished. 

A Thousand Words

Documentarians through their work can inspire; they can revolt. Their work can encourage and discourage. They can incite violence and motivate peace. Documentarians wield an immense amount of power; they have the capability of showing horrors and wonders to the entire world. Photographs can gain even more of an impact with the addition of words. My goal in life is to show the world, through photography and words, to the world.

Although pictures can say a thousand words, a literal thousand words can help communicate clearly and concisely a point. A photograph can become just a irrelevant picture if there isn’t context to back it. The context of a photograph lends a more human element to any news story. Context can show the mother behind the photograph of the child dying of HIV/AIDS. The writing behind a photograph can raise awareness of the issue being presented.

News stories can motivate and inspire action. With the combination of personal testimonies and documentation of the plights of others, people can become inspired to change their surroundings and potentially change their world. This sort of documentation can also lead to a negative result.  Violence can erupt from news stories insensitively portrayed. I will as a documentarian have a responsibility to write and photograph my work with honesty.

Through my work, I hope to inspire others to look around them and see the world in different lights. I believe that I can change lives, because my work will have power through photography and words. Only through successful and clear writing can these dreams actually be achieved.

Documentarians have essentially removed the blinders from the eyes of society. They have been able to give insight into the political and social issues in the Middle East to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. They have shown the travesties of a war and the joys of nature. They have successfully shown the world to itself. I can and will through my photography and writings be able to bring more awareness to society.

How To Buy

If you would like to go straight to the store, click here, but after viewing please keep reading.

If you see a photograph that you would like select "Buy Now".

My signature at the bottom of the pictures will be removed before sale. If you would like to purchase a photogragh from my Flickr site that is not already at my shop, contact me and I will add the photograph. Let me know if you have any questions!

 Here is the lowdown on prices and sizes:

Regular Prints

(Not available through Redbubble Store,

to purchase contact me directly at 1mcgkd@gmail.com)

Dimensions	Retail Price
Wallets	US$2.50
4” x 6”	US$5.00
5” x 7”	US$10.00
8” x 10”	US$15.00
Larger Sizes if available for photograph
11” x 14”	US$20.00
12” x 18”	US$25.00

AVAILABLE AT REDBUBBLE.COM

Poster

Dimensions	Retail Price
16.5" × 23.4”	US$27.55
24" × 33"	US$48.21
33" × 47"	US$68.88

Greeting Card

Dimensions	Retail Price
Laid Flat : 229mm x 162mm	US$4.82

Matted Print

Dimensions	Retail Price
External Size: 20" x 16" Print: 12" x 18"	US$34.44

Laminated Print

Dimensions	Retail Price
8” x 12”	US$20.66
12” x 18”	US$34.44
16” x 24”	US$66.12

Mounted Print

Dimensions	Retail Price
8” x 12”	US$55.10
12” x 18”	US$75.76
16” x 24”	US$103.31

Canvas Print

Dimensions	Retail Price
8” x 12”	US$82.65
12” x 18”	US$110.20
16” x 24”	US$151.53
20” x 30”	US$185.96

Framed Print

Dimensions	Retail Price
8” x 12”	US$110.20
12” x 18”	US$137.75
16” x 24”	US$185.96

Under the Thatch Roof

Under the Thatch Roof
Originally uploaded by MCGKD

This photo was taken on my father and I's first trip to Placencia, Belize. We were on our way to the Crow's Nest when it began to rain a warm rain. It felt good to run through the sand while it was raining knowing that shelter and food were near.

NEW SHOP

I have finally found the site I am going to use as my shop!
Below are some of my available photography or click here to see the shop

Cafe Lifestyle

hide
Originally uploaded by john-l

There is always something warm and inviting in a cafe done correctly.
Just to be able to come in get a latte then sit and relax, that's peace and joy on earth.

Makes you wonder....

SC02351
Originally uploaded by darbians

I have always had this fascinatation with the origin of ideas. What sparks the inspiration to attempt something new or define the "impossible".
For instance this photo, was the guy sitting there watching everybody else board and thought to himself, "Why are we confined in this world to only using one board? Isn't an insult to all the other boards out there wanting to be ridden? Lo, I shalt go an ride as many boards as I can sequentially. From here on out I will not be limited"

And thus he went out into the world and rode.

Sunset water silhouette

Sunset water silhouette
Originally uploaded by tiffs pictures

I love this photo and thought it was worth sharing! The forethought that went into this shot! The way the hair hits the light and make it appear as a mohawk. I just really like all aspects of this photo

Looking for something better (and not finding it)

Looking for something better (and not finding it)
Originally uploaded by EddyMixx

I love this sort of sneaky photography. It is one of the main reasons I bought the Nikon D5000. With its Vari-angle color LCD monitor as Nikon puts it, or the swivel display for the layman. I feel like an ultraspy being able to take these types of photos without their knowledge. The camera enable me to capture that "candid" photo without somone getting camera shy or looking directly into the camera. Great stuff!

Open Bar

Open Bar
Originally uploaded by MCGKD

This is to the right of the chair pile. I was just so amazed that they would have all this set up in a town with a fluctuating population of ten. A town with a small cafe with just enough hamburger meat for one person, a waitress who doesn't even work there, and a server with a broken foot using an office chair her means of transportaion.

The Unattended Party

The Unattended Party
Originally uploaded by MCGKD

Found in the lot next to the Drewsey Cafe in Drewsey, OR.
This lot fenced in area seemed prime for a party if some sort, but didn't look like it had been used in a while. All dressed up with no one to show.