Imagination is at the heart of contemplation My reflection begins with the observation that someone, likely a man with dirty hands, placed this wrench on an oil drum inside a mushroom farm in Loveland, Ohio. But where was it before that? Might it have been used in a factory, a gas station or railroad yard? Did it hang on a pegboard above someone’s basement workbench? Was it cherished? Was it even used? Had it sat in a metal or wooden drawer filled with other wrenches? Had it been dropped in the dirt and rained upon? Not this wrench. There’s no of sign of rust. With each of these possibilitie ..read more

The primacy of consciousness The relationship between the workers seen here and their towering creation took me to that place of amazement over what and how fast we can build. Prior to these steel structures being set in place, beams that would eventually support the bleacher seats in a football stadium, there were innumerable people involved—those with the vision and desire: geologists, engineers, architects, attorneys, politicians, bankers, investors and city planners. I think of the tonnage of paper documents, the multiple terabytes of information and images, the specification and sourcing ..read more

From darkness we advance toward the light The metal stairway in this image evokes in me considerations of the evolutionary spiral, the universe’s operating system, which we know to “favor” increased novelty, diversity, adaptation, complexity and order. Along the bottom steps of the oil tank, I see the significant ordering that has already occurred. In the steps above and combined with the railing, the lighted way indicates that the direction is onward and upward. Finally, conveying purpose to this ascending pathway is the mass of the structure behind it—the universe. Extending the metaphor, I ..read more

Making the slightest contact, separate masses tend to “pull” to one another Reflecting upon these raindrops, I’m drawn more to their  journey than to my usual inclination to trace subject matter back to its origins—perhaps because the first appearance of water on Earth has not yet been ascertained. Water known however, that gravity keeps it contained. None of it escapes into space. According to the United States Geological Survey: “If the total amount of water vapor fell as precipitation all at once, the Earth would be covered with only about one inch of water.” But “If all the world’s w ..read more

What’s a citizen to believe? With all the buzz about “false” and “fake” news, foreign influence in elections, intelligence leakers, inflammatory talk shows, social media manipulators and AI capabilities, how can we know the truth of anything that’s being reported? We can’t. Given any situation that’s reported, we weren’t present to experience what actually happened. Even if we had been, our perception might well differ from other first-hand accounts. Irrespective of the medium or source, “news” that’s reported is almost always second-hand and beyond. I saw this first hand when I worked in thr ..read more

Nothing is what it appears to be In this image I reflect on the notion of “reality,” that it’s both individual and a construct. There’s the reality that I, as the photographer, experienced—the bright sun and the people on the hill. And part of that reality includes cars in a parking lot and an observation platform to the right of the walkers. So, the reality within the frame is a small fraction of what I experienced. Further, the realities of the individuals walking down the path are entirely different from my experience, each having a unique perspective based on a complex of references, pre ..read more

“Exquisite” happens when parts unite to form a greater whole Aside from the beauty of the reflections, the image of this motorcycle encourages several lines of contemplation. The first is a deep appreciation for the human capacity to extract elements from the earth and shape them into virtually unlimited forms. Size, shape and surface, even strength of materials and temperature tolerances are a few of the variables that designers and engineers can manipulate—which amazes me! My father was a toolmaker for the Ford Motor Company. He sometimes said he could make anything from metal. When he hear ..read more

Under stress, we can at least gather our feathers This image of a flamingo illustrates the kind of composure referred to as “equanimity”—steadiness of mind under stress. Calm. His feathers aren’t ruffled. His posture reminds me of the social science phenomenon of “cocooning,” a term coined in the 90’s by trend forecaster Faith Popcorn to describe how individuals were socializing less and retreating into their homes more. Whereas the trend began in part because of the desire for more people to work at home (even air conditioning was a contributing factor), more recent insecurities su ..read more

The random arrangement of visual elements juxtaposing lights and darks in this image comes near to creating abstraction because the subject matter is easily “read.” Another aesthetic feature here is the number of visual elements, each tonal change representing one of them. The more there are, the more complex the image, so there’s increased potential in the amount of information that can be derived such an image. For instance, a photograph of just one chair would communicate “Look at this chair.” Consciously or unconsciously the viewer would wonder what’s so special about it? The image of mul ..read more

Although this weld bead is not a good one from the perspective of a welder, it caught my attention as a potentially abstract image, rich with color, texture and highlights. When I came across the image, the word “joining” came to mind, eliciting some observations for contemplation. Some of the metaphoric implications are obvious, others not so much. And because Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J. wrote so extensively about the evolutionary dynamics and implications of joining together, I offer some of his quotes. They effectively distill the essence of my observations here. In the first place, I ..read more