May 12, 2005
Cozumel Crab
The juvenile sand crab on the eastern beach of the Isle de Cozumel, Mexico, watches intently for danger as he is photographed. Or, perhaps he is staring at me and just wondering what the heck I'm doing. What am I? A crab mind reader?
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May 2, 2005
Gatorback
The back of an allegator that I spotted swimming in the mangroves at the western end of the island of Cozumel, Mexico.
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April 8, 2005
"Memory Pictures"
Back in the early 80's, when I was training to become a licensed funeral director, the big buzz-word about the purpose of our jobs was to create "memory pictures" of our client's "loves ones." I was anything but a traditional funeral director who towed the party line. I felt that my job was to serve the families that I worked with by addressing *their* needs, not to get them to follow traditional Judeo-Christian death rituals. Of course if those rituals were important to them, then by all means, I was there to serve them in that capacity. But often times I bucked the system: I advocated that people should think outside of the box (no pun intended) and find a variety of fitting ways to remember their loved ones. Cremation was still largely considered disrespectful, but I didn't buy into that belief. HIV/AIDS "cases" were being turned away by other funeral homes who were too afraid of "Gay Cancer," while my business partner and I greeted these families with open arms. Even referrals to support networks such as Compassionate Friends (a parent bereavement group) was largely considered to be outside the scope of what funeral directors did, but I regularly encouraged bereaved parents to find a local chapter and meet other people who had suffered the death of a child.
I saw the importance of people having an opportunity to say their last goodbyes to a deceased loved one and thought that in many cases, the "memory picture" term probably accurately depicted a large part of what we did for many families who felt that seeing a loved one in a casket was an important part of the grieving process. When my own mother died last Spring, that was an important part of the process for me as well as something that honored her final wishes. But the pictures that we had displayed on boards at the funeral home were equally important -- they buffered the stark image of her laying there dead.
Today, "Lacey", "The Elder Statesman" who I wrote about in an earlier post, died. This was the last photo that I took of him and I am finding it particulary meaningful right now. He didn't look his best, the cancer was overpowering his shrinking body (a cancer that we didn't know he had until today), but he still looked like *him*. There was an observant quality to his eyes as he kept them on the dog -- his nemisis -- who was just outside of the field of view. He was in one of his favorite places on the back of the sofa, where he often slept for hours. . . . It is how I want to remember him. It is my "memory picture" -- the one that I would rather carry in my head over the final moments of his life.
As photographers, we not only create pictures, we create memory pictures. We create physical pictures that people can hold and look at over the years and often use to process traumatic mental images after a death -- and replace those with more comforting visual representations of their loved ones when they were alive and happy. What we do is important for the bereaved (even though we don't even know we are doing it for the bereaved at the time). It should never be underrated. Snapshots should never be underrated. They are often the most candid and lifefilled images that we and others create. We are in a sense acting as "funeral directors" when we document the living and offer those images as a source of comfort once someone has died. I have had several clients who have died, and the complimentary images that I gave the families where especially important to them -- they became incorporated into that family's "memory pictures."
Here are two of my last memories of Lacey -- the ones I am chosing to hold in my mind.
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March 31, 2005
Barishnikat: The Graceful, Dancing Feline
Barishnikat, named for his dancing abilities as a kitten, is a 13 year-old orange tabby with severe health problems including asthma and a heart defect. He defied the odds and has lived well beyond his expected years. he has been a wonderful companion and excellent photographic subject over the years.
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The Elder Statesman
The elder statesman. . . . a 17 year-old tabby named Lacy (we thought he was a girl when he was a kitten, hence the name). There is something regal about an aging cat. They become more mello, yet project a sense of self-confidence that I find rather striking.
On of his more mellow moments. . . .
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March 30, 2005
Critter Pics
Every photographer starts out taking endless pictures of *something* -- and it is, often times, the kids or pets that suffer the most in the early years. These photos are a few years old.... but they were good practice for me and helped sharpen my composition. I found that flowers made idea subjects when i didn't have to worry about "decisive moment" photography -- unless it was windy outside, I didn't have to worry much about the movement of my subject. That helped me learn how to gradually work with slower shutter speeds.
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March 29, 2005
"Jazz" The Hearing Dog
Here's a photo of my new dog. He was my mother's dog until she passed away this past year. He is a two-year old Papillion (butterfly ear) and he is just as smart as a whip. He's been trained to aid people with certain disabilities. Specifically, people with hearing impairments, however he can easily retreive help for people with a host of medical conditions when he is given a cue or when he observes an obvious problem (such as fainting). When he is in service to a person iwth a hearing impairment, he can notify the person to unusual sounds, alert when the phone/TTY rings, doorbell, or if there is a crying child in the house. His ability to learn tasks related to "alerts" seems limitless, and he often just picks things up on his own based on his human's response to a given sound. As with all trained service animals, he behaves in public places, goes to the bathroom on command (o.k, well not always), and rides well on public tranportation. One of the things that I have noticed while taking him in public is that people do not believe that a service/assistance dog can come in such a small package. People usually associate service animals with larger dogs that are used for mobility, however small breeds make excellent medical alert and hearing dogs. Jazz gets to play a lot -- he doesn't always have to be "on duty". . . .
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