Saguaro Wanderings: Seeing 2009 (#105)

For your consideration, the contrasts of night-and-day imagery, mood, and perspectives on destiny.

The first offering continues the series of "Drive-By Shootings", taken from the passenger seat of Jerry's truck as he drove us home from an evening visit to SF MoMA. This type of abstract has a visceral appeal to me, and works on several levels. For one, the rich and vibrant colors, heightened by the contrasting dark sky. This creation also speaks to idea of reality as very much a fluid, ethereal and ultimately elusive notion . . . all things are in motion, beginning at the molecular level, and we're simply along for the ride. It is comforting to realize, as this image attempts to convey, that magnificent beauty and power can be perceived within these dynamic and constant changes, when we allow ourselves to alter our perspective.

The second image was recorded just today, which was bone-chillingly cold and breezy. I'd gone to the top level of a city parking garage in order to take some photographs of the nearby hills, which were blanketed with snow - a rare event locally. On my way back towards shelter this juxtaposition presented itself: the Exit sign, the egress, and the distant cathedral . . . the implication being that passage from this mortal coil to what awaits is a heavenly destination. However, the sign suggests a different outcome: it warns to take your ticket with you, but (in the fine print) comes the caveat, "No cashier at exit." Something of a bleak, existentialist verdict, one befitting a particularly wintry day. (I still haven't gotten warm!)

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