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History, You, and Your Camera

Early on in my photography career, not sure what I was doing, yet knowing I both enjoyed it and had an aptitude for it, I began shooting my own brand development images for my Surf themed company on a Minolta system. Both on land and in the water. Larry Moore who would become my editor at Surfing took me aside and explained the significance of building a body of work over the arc of a career lifespan. He explained what a library was, and how to set a bar on my work, in order that I might become an image

Art and the HUman Condition

Again, big HT to Titus Levy for this interesting piece. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/second-opinion/these-nine-artists-will-help-you-understand-future-planet-180963576/#mBT2Bo3J7ibEu9VD.99 Oddly enough of course, it is under one of the pretenses (There are two main ones, Art and Sea) that I am asked to contribute to projects. At Blue Mind Block Island I was to present after Dr Helen Reiss gave an emotionally stirring talk on the value of Compassion. In it she used a film about plastic pollution and the albatross on Midway Island. The film stated basically that the Albatross were under threat from plastic pollution. As one of three Artists presenting at the Summit, it wound

Authentic Activism

The text a few lines below is from a conversation in one of the groups I am in, which is populated by some highly educated people who I have seen to possess fairly valiant hearts. Each wants to contribute to making our planet healthier, and Humanity happier. Our conversations frequently examine activism. This most recent one had me thinking about all the different voices in the world using Causes to drive Companies, rather than Companies to drive change within Culture. Healthy change will always come down to an embrace of Authenticity and Honesty. Here is my response in our conversation

World Oceans Day

Just in the door from a wonderful watery trip to Costa Rica, I found myself in a meeting at City Hall here in Ventura yesterday, with City Engineers, a smart Engineering firm from SF, reps from the California Coastal Commission, Army Corps of Engineers and some members of the Surf Community who volunteered to delve into a solution for an ongoing erosion problem at our town’s main point break, Surfers Point. As I looked around the room, it hit me how significant our people can be. We bring to the table an informed love for the watery world we live

Joy

Joy. It is a quirky subject. But for Artists, all strong and uplifting work comes from the place where joy resides. In the heart. If joy lives there. Well, guess what that does… When I was studying in Bible College, one of the most fascinating subjects was that of Joy. There is a scripture verse written on my heart that I frequently in life’s trials, find myself needing to refer to. “The joy of the Lord is your Strength”. You will see that tenet reflected everywhere in both the Old and New Testaments. I sometimes find myself shouting it inside

International Manifesto: A Child’s Game

Marin Havassy is the 6 YO daughter of two talented artists-creatives. Growing up in a world surrounded by art, nature, water, and an increasing immersion in Costa Rican culture, she emotionally and cognitively illustrates a point made to me by Jean-Michel Cousteau awhile ago: “If you want to change the world, begin with a conversation regarding the welfare of our children. Everyone cares about that. This is a conversation which I really want to have with the leaders of the world” This is a thread running through a dialog held in common we experienced, while visiting our ocean ohana this

Ocean Life and the Great White Shark

Ocean Life and the Great White Shark In recent months the reports of white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) activity in California have literally exploded in number, with videos, many of them shot from UAV (Drone) camera platforms, news articles and reports via the ocean community grapevine, indicating with little doubt, we have more of the species appearing in near shore waters than I can ever recall. So what is going on? The CDFW (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) lists the total number of “Incidents” in California waters between humans and the White since 1950 as 101. It is unclear what

Bali: dispatch 3

It is a curious experience, when you walk down a beach, and have a look around at your surroundings recognizing that it is coming up on the time to leave. The thought dawns: will I be in this place again? It is not an entirely comfortable feeling, this one. Especially when one connects to the place and it’s people. I doubt there is a place on this blue marble where I have explored, that has not left it’s mark on me or left a portion of it’s psychic presence upon my self. This after all, is what life is about:

Focus

I have noticed a lot of confusion amongst my friends, who really are quite a diverse lot (and some not so simple to peg themselves, really). What confuses some of them? Me, apparently. There are things which I have little patience for, as I view some issues and how society approaches them via political process, as being rather childish by design. As I have matured, I determined to put aside childish things as well as inconvenient things, like following politicians or religious leaders who are in point of fact, just doing their jobs. (It is important to know just what

The Byproduct of War

I have been watching and studying the History Channel production titled “Vietnam in HD” recently. It is both informative and excellent work which documents via high resolution film scans and authentic narrative, the massive conflict, as a nexus for American warfare and culture. You can watch it on Netflix. The seeds for the Vietnam War were sown here. (It is a very good read) My Father was sent over to Indo-China as a member of an Army US Intelligence team, on the heels of the Korean War. He was charged with doing photography and map making, and his camera kit

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