For your consideration: a pair of portraits of very dear and close friends, in tableaux of radically different moods.
Bryan is a relative newcomer to my circle, and a tremendously joyful addition to our cadre.
An enthusiastic, good-humored and open-minded fellow, he has demonstrated fortitude, remarkable perseverance and unusual willingness as a refreshingly "early adopter" of meditation as a serious spiritual practice. Over the course of a few short months he became my de facto sangha partner; not only did he join me nearly daily for 30-minute meditations ("sits") at a local park, but he was also a frequent visitor to the Zen Meditation Good Works sangha (which meets every Tuesday at noon at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., library), making a special one-hour-plus trip via mass transit and bicycle simply to join in a silent reflection.
Bryan and I developed a rich and deep connection during the course of our journeys to the park, as well as at other spiritual gatherings. I, and others, shall miss him: shortly after he agreed to "sit" for this portrait he completed emptying his storage unit and returned to his homeland of Louisiana. We shall meet again on the journey . . .
Bryan is a relative newcomer to my circle, and a tremendously joyful addition to our cadre.
An enthusiastic, good-humored and open-minded fellow, he has demonstrated fortitude, remarkable perseverance and unusual willingness as a refreshingly "early adopter" of meditation as a serious spiritual practice. Over the course of a few short months he became my de facto sangha partner; not only did he join me nearly daily for 30-minute meditations ("sits") at a local park, but he was also a frequent visitor to the Zen Meditation Good Works sangha (which meets every Tuesday at noon at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., library), making a special one-hour-plus trip via mass transit and bicycle simply to join in a silent reflection.
Bryan and I developed a rich and deep connection during the course of our journeys to the park, as well as at other spiritual gatherings. I, and others, shall miss him: shortly after he agreed to "sit" for this portrait he completed emptying his storage unit and returned to his homeland of Louisiana. We shall meet again on the journey . . .
Kevin Ahern is the subject of the second image (taken last year in the MLK library) , depicted in a rare foray by me into significant image manipulation.
I chose to alter the original photograph in response to Kevin's recent brush with his mortality: he is a lucky survivor of a heart attack. One of my closest friends and confidants, this scare was utterly unexpected for all concerned, and it serves as an acute reminder of the miracle of our consciousness and the tenuousness, unpredictability and impermanence of our existence. As I have passed 50 years of time spent on the mortal coil the awareness of my own inevitable date with the Great Mystery Beyond has become an increasingly present companion, heightened more than a little by Kevin's escape.
Thus the presentation below, a rendering of Mr Ahern in a duality of contexts and perspectives.
First, an overall sense of ethereal surrealism, representing what may well be our experience as we transition to What's Next. Secondly, I chose specific filtering effects to produce layers and contours: layers to amplify sense of the many hidden levels of our consciousness, unconsciousness, and the unfathomable true nature of our physical Self at the quantum level; contours as a sly nod to a secret love Kevin and I share -- an affinity for geography and USGS maps . . .
Finally, the final result seems to exude a potent sense of discomfort and tension, a mood remarkably and utterly at odds with the actual emotional landscape at the time he posed for my camera . . . a case in point that the potential for a sudden and abrupt change in our essential existence and being is always present.
I chose to alter the original photograph in response to Kevin's recent brush with his mortality: he is a lucky survivor of a heart attack. One of my closest friends and confidants, this scare was utterly unexpected for all concerned, and it serves as an acute reminder of the miracle of our consciousness and the tenuousness, unpredictability and impermanence of our existence. As I have passed 50 years of time spent on the mortal coil the awareness of my own inevitable date with the Great Mystery Beyond has become an increasingly present companion, heightened more than a little by Kevin's escape.
Thus the presentation below, a rendering of Mr Ahern in a duality of contexts and perspectives.
First, an overall sense of ethereal surrealism, representing what may well be our experience as we transition to What's Next. Secondly, I chose specific filtering effects to produce layers and contours: layers to amplify sense of the many hidden levels of our consciousness, unconsciousness, and the unfathomable true nature of our physical Self at the quantum level; contours as a sly nod to a secret love Kevin and I share -- an affinity for geography and USGS maps . . .
Finally, the final result seems to exude a potent sense of discomfort and tension, a mood remarkably and utterly at odds with the actual emotional landscape at the time he posed for my camera . . . a case in point that the potential for a sudden and abrupt change in our essential existence and being is always present.
* * *
Bryan, August 1, 2010, #0336
© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: August 1, 2010; Canon 20D; f/5.6 @ 1/60 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; 51mm.
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Topographical Man, #5476
© 2010 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.
(click image for larger version)
Details: October 30, 2009; Canon 20D; f/11 @ 1/30 sec; —2/3 EV; ISO 400; 55mm.
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