Category: Uncategorized
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It’s all in the mind . . . Or is it?
I have a confession to make. When I first became interested in photography at the ripe old age of 13, my interest may not have been driven by the quest for art. As you might imagine, any young boy has one thing on his mind, for me that was fitting in. I was not athletic…
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The Satisfaction that Comes from Never Being Satisfied
My office is so quiet now. My wife is off in another area and the cats are napping somewhere. I decided to take a moment to review some of the best images I have ever taken, and my mind is quiet, but with a kind of silent dissatisfaction. I am so tempted to jump in…
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Thinking Inside the Box
Boxes are easy to overlook. They are everywhere, holding, protecting, separating, organizing. Most of the time, I do not think about them at all. I see the thing inside and barely register the box that made its journey possible. But a box is not as simple as it appears. Someone has to decide what material…
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After the Momentum
What remains when the work is finished and the urgency is gone. The studio is finished now, or at least as finished as I had imagined it would be. For weeks, nearly everything had a clear next step. There were decisions to make, things to move, problems to solve, and a deadline quietly pressing against…
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Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?
My attorney uses a phrase that has stayed with me: Is the juice worth the squeeze? It is not an especially elegant phrase, but it has a way of getting to the point. Effort has a cost. So do attention, patience, money, and morale. The question is not whether something can be made to work.…
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“Thank you for waiting. Your business is important to us.”
The Living, Breathing Oxymoron The message repeats every few minutes, usually just long enough to interrupt the music and remind you that no one has answered. You have already worked your way through the automated menu, repeated information the company already has, and explained your problem to a system that cannot understand it. Somewhere beyond…
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Before Coffee, After AI
I have never actually seen an executive smash a pastry into his own forehead, but in fiction we are allowed certain freedoms. Glenn was a middle manager in a large manufacturing company. Fairly paid, overworked, and running on the kind of fatigue that makes small problems feel like personal attacks. It had been a hard…
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Feeling What We Rarely Notice
When my mother volunteered at the Denver Museum of Natural History, one of her jobs involved painting imperfections on artificial leaves used in dioramas. Not the leaves themselves, but the imperfections. Tiny signs of weathering. The occasional insect bite. Small details most visitors would never consciously notice. I still remember how proud she was of…
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Cognitive Dissonance and the Keys to the Kingdom
(smile) I am certain that I am not certain about this. Last year, while writing Conversations with Light, I found myself reversing a familiar phrase. Most of us grow up hearing that seeing is believing. My experience with light and life suggests otherwise. I have come to realize the opposite holds true as well. Believing…
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Stochastic Nonsense
It was an interesting day. I found myself talking with several people about artificial intelligence and how the phrase itself may be a bit of a sleight of hand. Not to diminish our silicon companions, but are they intelligent? Personally, I think that depends on what we mean by intelligence. There is no question that…