Manipulation as Art

I’m talking about Vision, of course, but also about Verb...which I’ll get to in a minute.

Many eons ago, back when digital photography was first taking off,  I had a most interesting conversation with sister Ruth about pure, unadulterated photography vs. the kind of manipulated photos we see nowadays using textures, blurs, selective coloring, HDR, etc.   Photography like what you see above (from the Budapest subway).

[I’m not talking about basic tweaks with straightening, contrast, shadows and sharpening.  As a professional photographer once told me, that’s not considered “manipulation.”  It’s…expected.]

As Ruth and I talked back then, she made no secret of the fact she was not a fan of photo manipulation.  At all.  Furthermore, she mentioned that our big-time photography nephew agreed with her…back then.  Pure, unadulterated photography.  That’s the real photography.

As one terribly prone to being swayed by “what people think,” I was devastated.  Here I was, older sister and aunt and wannabe photographer, succumbing to the evils of cheap art.  I nearly nose-dived myself into a hellish depression.

How epiphanies come out of the blue (do they?), I don’t know.  But within short order an AHA! came that, thankfully, pulled me out of my slough of despond.

“Think about it this way,” I said to Ruth back then.  “You’re a poet in your own right.  A published poet.  A lauded poet.  Loved by many.  But some of us don’t always like it, ‘get’ it, or read it.  Sometimes it takes too much energy.  We just want the pure, unadulterated written word.  The real conversation as it happened.”

That’s when it dawned on me that poetry is language manipulation.  Isn’t it?  It’s not always easy on the eyes or clear or understood or swallowed whole.  Or it IS, depending on the eye of the beholder!  It’s an art in its own right, whether we like it or not.  The lucky ones go down in history as our heroes and mentors.  Ruth is becoming one of them herself, truth be told.  And the more I read her, the more I understand her…just as I do some of you who have the gift.

Actually, my guess is that many photography purists dabble in digital manipulation these days, having gotten over the hump, like Ruth, venturing into their own path of “tools of the trade.”  It’s not that we/they have to “get with the program” as much as just acknowledging we’re not living in the same world anymore. 

Which reminds me of brother Bennett (who died in 1996 at age 47), a professional film photographer before the age of digital who did his own manipulations in the dark room with the solarisation technique.  I still remember his negatives becoming silk-screen templates placed on top of each other to create one image.  He was a master at film-photo manipulation. 

Maybe when it comes down to it we’re all manipulators in one way, shape, form or another?  It may not be digital or verbal, premeditated or controlled.  But deep down I bet something very creative, artistic, human and soulful guides us skillfully to alter and edit Life as we know it in order to navigate this world today. 

Sometimes, if we admit it, we just do it because we can and because it’s fun.

Don’t you wonder what it all will look like a few years down the road…if we get to live that long?!

The Language of Windmills

This wasn’t what I had planned for today…but after the Dutch Prince Friso unexpectedly died two weeks ago, I switched gears.

The short version is that after being buried by an avalanche while skiing in Austria a year ago February, Prince Friso went into a coma and never regained consciousness.  He was 44 when he died.  Besides leaving behind his recently “retired” Queen Mother (now Princess Beatrix), his King Brother Alexander and younger brother Constantijn, he also left behind his wife and two adorable girls, ages 8 and 7.

It so happens Prince Friso was Protector (“guardian angel”) of the Dutch Windmill Association (just like his father Prince Claus before), and, out of respect to him, all Dutch windmills were at “standstill” from his death to his funeral this past August 16.

  

The “standstill” position of a windmill is what you see above from our De Hoop windmill here where we live.  It’s the eleven/five o-clock position--the position marking death and mourning.  It would be similar to hanging our flags at half-mast.

Not all windmill language is about death, of course.  In fact, far from it!

First of all, windmills in the Netherlands turn counter-clockwise when you face them.  I say “when you face them” because from the backside they’re turning clockwise.  It’s the way they’re designed, mainly for right-handed millers who will furl/unfurl the sails with their right hand.  [Ireland is the one country where they turn clockwise.  Maybe Catherine knows why?]

It’s a huge thrill for me to see a windmill turning because it means IT’S  WINDY.  But did you know that to maintain status in the windmill association, you hope to God it’s windy because your windmill is required to make 200,000 revolutions a year, whether it’s a working mill (draining water, sawing wood, milling grain) or for show!  So, yes, a meter counts out the turns.  If you make the mark, you receive subsidies to keep your windmill painted and in working order, which is of utmost importance to a country dependent on the charm of this historic icon.

When the windmill is not turning, the sails are left standing in one of 4 positions, more or less telling you what’s going on in that miller’s life:

1. If the sail is in the one/seven-o’clock position, the message is JOY.  It’s in the so-called “coming” (yup!) position before it reaches the highest point and usually signifies a celebration:  Marriage.  Birth.  Graduation.  Birthday.  A flag often accompanies this position from the highest sail.
2. In the midnight/six-o’clock position, or the vertical/horizontal position, the windmill is at “short rest” during a work period, like in milling grain, and will turn again as soon as the wind picks up.
3. After passing the highest point, midnight, the sails are then “going” and reach the eleven/five-o’clock position of death and mourning, as in the case of Prince Friso above.
4. In the ten/four-o’clock position, with sails at a 45-degree angle to the vertical, forming a St. Andrew’s cross, the mill is at “long rest,” allowing the miller to perform maintenance chores in and around the mill, often during the summer months.
   
   
   

There are 1150+ Dutch windmills in working order as we speak, more than any other country in the world, and with a database giving details on every single one.  They are still turned to wind by hand and use canvas sails.  None are motorized.

I always knew windmills were soulful to me but…talk about Vision and Verb!  Who would have thought a windmill could say so much!

Our Shoppe Gallery

While celebrating our summer weekends, and in the spirit of our global collaboration and community of support, we are featuring our personal art as 'Vision to Verb' notecards. 


Our hope is that they'll inspire you to join with us in our support of KIVA - empowering people around the world with start-up business loans.

Our Shoppe Gallery

While celebrating our summer weekends, and in the spirit of our global collaboration and community of support, we are featuring our personal art as 'Vision to Verb' notecards. 


Our hope is that they'll inspire you to join with us in our support of KIVA - empowering people around the world with start-up business loans.