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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 Big Nevermind

The City of Ventura is my home. I have owned a house and various other properties and leases here for 30 years. Communities are pretty simple really. Generally they are composed of diverse components, all assembled in a willingness to live and work in a place that they find desirable. The willingness to contribute, is directly proportional to establishing a sense of forward motion. Effect must equal cause. Benefit is weighed against cost. So onward the ship sails with all of us aboard, planning, building, laughing, crying, fighting, healing, birthing, living, dying: together. For any of this to occur, the

Deep

Some of us may have thought that it was an oxymoron to call our locally produced little magazine, Deep. I mean as paper publishing began to spiral, here were a bunch of us doing a locally based magazine called Deep. It had seemed a little bit ironic. The publication was based on one begun in Goleta originally and called Wetsand Magazine. It was soon absorbed by the News Press and was called Blue Edge. As the News Press version tailspun in response to business issues, Deep sprung up, and many if not all of the contributors began to throw in

Small Town, Big World

I get a global look at things through my photography business, which has web strands anchored to many countries. I see something first hand, that many do not have the personal luxury of acquiring: a broad economic and cultural perspective. This country is in the single greatest period of change and challenge since the Great Depression. So what to do, as assets dwindle and fiscal potential narrows? For the answer, look to the past. About a year ago, a group of people met in my little town. There were a series of meetings actually. No official city committee was involved.

Vulnerability

Everyone must learn to deal with issues involving trust. In our craft, or art, because a certain aspect of photography is subjective and it’s validity may be cheered or denigrated by a viewer, depending on where that viewer hails from morally, spiritually, or sociologically, it is des rigeur to put ourselves out on an emotional limb so to speak, when we share our work. So there is risk involved. On many levels. Is my subject valid, am I good enough technically, am I going to be accepted by enough of the commercial market to get a return on all my

Vtown Introspectus

The town I live in, like many in the US is faced with stark fiscal realities as money supplies shift and real estate markets go someplace no one thought that they would. It is a time for my little town as well as myself to consider how the future should look. In a historic review of many great cities, you will generally find that decisions made in times of calamity later proved to be what defined the town. Our neighbor, Santa Barbara is a great case in point. When an earthquake leveled much of downtown Santa Barbara not long after

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