Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I COULDN'T SLEEP AT ALL LAST NIGHT 2





Finally in Tuxedo after several hours' scary driving in a skiddy car, the house is nicely whispering heat.


All the way here thinking about the Arthur Batut (father of aerial photography) picture in first position, which I originally saw covering the Penguin paperback edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde.  This was the first “good” book I persuaded Jane to read and I’m so glad I did.  


Dr. Jekyll is beautifully written, profound, and deeply moving, as well as (in parts) gasp-out-loud shocking.  I monitored Jane’s progress through the book several summers ago and actually heard the sharp breath intakes.  A great ride for her.


The young man’s portrait above, like the two Batut female portraits below, are pioneering, expressive examples of intentional  double-exposure.



I don’t need to expound on the mystery expressed by being implied in these images, but on this lonely, lonely cold evening I recall one of my favorite pasttimes – asking Jane to look at pictures and describing to me what she sees.


The game started when I annoyed her by persistently looking at "rock stars of my youth" pictures in magazines, ignoring her.  


Jane’s answers were always perceptive, visually acute, and imaginative. That being said, she frequently used the one-word description “hobo,” especially when viewing Bob Dylan and "All Things Must Pass"-period George Harrison images.



No comments:

Post a Comment