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  • Breathing Light - Issue #12- Of Minor White and the Back Catalogue of our Lives

Breathing Light - Issue #12- Of Minor White and the Back Catalogue of our Lives

October 24th, 2021

In this issue

  1. Image of the week

  2. Front end

  3. Learning from the masters- Minor White

  4. Fevered Mind Links (to make your Sunday coffee go cold)

  5. Backend/Bookends

Image of the week

“We forget that the water cycle and the life cycle are one.”

— Jacques Yves Cousteau

Front end

Each time I look in the mirror, it seems to have gotten a little older

-SW

Apologies

Arohamai.

I am sorry.

This newsletter has been a curmudgeonly ewe, taking its time to get through the drafting gate and out into the paddock.

Saturday is usually my day of devoting myself and my intentions to it. However, spotty internet (I am still waiting for my fibre connection, which may improve things) and the arrival of various visitors throughout the day meant that it didn't quite happen on time.

However, it is finally here (whenever it arrives).

Learning from the masters- Minor White

Remember the Beatles?

Of course, you do.

And what do they have to do with Minor White?

Stick around.

The Beatles went to India and fell under the influence of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Suddenly Eastern thought, culture and belief became mainstream, and Westerners went off to India to 'find themselves.

While he never quite did the kaftan and Hare Khrishna thing, White was undoubtedly attracted to Eastern mysticism and incorporated it into his teaching.

The story is told that one of his students asked him:

"When will I know to make the photograph, Mr White?"

His reply:

" Be still within yourself until the object of your interest affirms your presence."

Very Zen.

I have long held that we can learn much from great artists (and, by extension, better understand our own journey). When we look at the work of a great artist, we can see them reflected in the work they make/made.

And perhaps that is the goal of our art: to show the world as we see it, rather than as we feel we should see it.

When I first encountered White's work, it left me puzzled. There was a certain tortured quality to it, which I couldn't understand at first until I began looking into his life.

When I read that he was at once a devout Roman Catholic but also gay, things fell into place. Now I could approach his work with a degree of understanding and see him and his inner battle in the art he made.

My admiration for the openness and honesty of his visual expression grew immensely. Here was a man who expressed clearly who he was and what moved him.

In this light, you might look at the header image for this section as a metaphor for White's (troubled) inner world and see how it reflects these two conflicts.

Of course, there is a lot more to know about White, if you are interested.

Check out the link below.

And the takeaway from all this?

We are in a time when current circumstances force us to examine our own lives and journeys and our relationships to and with each other.

Perhaps it is time for those who make visual art to look at the work we have produced and ask ourselves what message the work is saying. If each one is a visual metaphor for our life, what does that say about us?

Fevered Mind Links (to make your Sunday coffee go cold)

Minor White (1908-1976) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and earned a degree from the University of Minnesota in 1933. In 1938, Minor White moved to Portland, Oregon.

In the seconds that it takes to leave home in the morning, my garden in Ohio is exploding with invisible movements: a fusillade of spores bursts into the air from microscopic fungi that have sprouted on rabbit pellets since sunrise; leafhoppers jump from the car roof using gear wheels that engage fa

Our universe, everywhere and in all directions, is filled with stars and galaxies. From our vantage point, we observe up to 46.1 billion light-years away.

A truly gentle and beautiful video

Tibetan Zen Music to cleanse your aura and improve your mood.

Your aura can be impacted when you are constantly exchanging energies while interacting with people around you. Listen to this music to clear your mind of negative thoughts and improve mood at the comfort of your home or workplace. Use

The word ‘economy’ evolved from the Greek root οἶκος. ‘Oikos’ had three interrelated senses in ancient Greece: the family, the family’s land, and the family’s home.

I have learned that most things in life are better and more beautiful not linear but fractal. Love especially.

Silky eggs. Creamy avocado. It's a match made in healthy eating heaven. Serve for breakfast or pair with a salad and you have a simple, protein-packed brunch, lunch or dinner. Ahhhh. Take 30 seconds and join the 30Seconds community. Inspire and be inspired.

Backend/Bookends

Perusing the back catalogue of our lives

A few days ago, I installed a trial version of a software package I once used to develop my images.

Well, one I used to use.

When I switched to Fujifilm, I could no longer use it because they did not support Fuji Raw Files. It was a particular favourite because of the way it renders them. After that, however, I had to let it go.

Until now.

When I read that they were now supporting the X-Trans sensor ( the thing that makes files from this camera so unique), I immediately downloaded a copy for trial.

And its image browser immediately brought up bodies of work that had faded back into the dusty corners of my inner library.

It was a time when I was travelling, looking open-eyed at the world and in wonder at the rich diversity of the world and human expression.

This particular set of images had been hiding away among the hundreds of thousands of files stored on my computer. And it was an absolute joy to be able to make that journey again. And again if I so choose.

Perhaps that is the true power of our medium, namely its ability to make concrete the moments through which we have passed and which are now in the rearview mirror of our days.

Each of us is walking a unique path that has never been before and will never happen again.

Let us celebrate the wonder of who we are and where we have been.

As always, I hope you have found this newsletter interesting. Challenging is good too.

If you think someone's else might find it of use, please forward it to them.

Ngaa mihi arohaa me maarama ki a koe.

Much Love and Light to you.

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