Why Facebook Users Use Twitter

I'm not a regular Twitter user. Finally found my own reason for using it tonight. After I returned home from a late meeting on the Cape (Cape Cod) I tried to log in my Facebook account. No such luck: disabled. Why? I don't know. Guess the cat or dog typed something inappropriate while I was out.

It seemed to hit me the same way a power outage does, with its abrupt change of lifestyle. Facebook friends sent email messages to me while my account was still active; I cannot reply. Serves me right for not recording each Facebook friend's email address. Yet, that may have been a violation of Facebook's terms of agreement. Don't know.

Power outages also have their advantages. A peaceful darkness envelops the evening. Soft candlelight glows, televisions darken, and audio devices go mute, all helping to create a reverence and respect for the earth's magnificent daily rotation.

A night without Facebook is bearable. It has to be. It will probably be a day or two or three. A life without my long lost friends and newer acquaintances: less bearable. It will be good to reconnect with you, your stories and lives when the time comes.

Until then I'll keep a light on for you over here.

A Celebration of Libraries!

A follow-up to the post below: The library's override passed. The sign on the library lawn soon read:




Join us on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at the Rockland Memorial Library in Rockland, Massachusetts. I will be hosting a reception for my "From Lightbox to Library" exhibit, part of the Rockland Library's "Art in the Rotunda" series.


For more than a hundred years, many great photographers have had close associations with libraries. Even now, in the era of the internet, libraries provide services and information to contemporary photographers. Fine art photographers, photojournalists and portrait photographers find many services at their local libraries that they couldn’t find or afford elsewhere.

The web’s low-resolution imaging fails to convey the full artistic beauty and technical expertise of original landscapes and portraits. Many photographic collections have been documented in limited, hard to find, and nearly impossible to afford editions. Several of these books include specially printed reproduction plates that are useful to students of photography.

In this exhibit I try to honor the invaluable services that libraries and librarians continue to provide photographers.

As there are many different types of photography, there are also many types of research needs. Not surprisingly, photojournalists and documentarians use library resources to better understand their subjects. Yet, the same is true for many landscape, portrait and other specialized photographers. We may need to learn the background of a person, the sunset hours of a special location, tidal charts, or local customs and taboos in foreign countries. Research enhances our images; our image making inspires us to research more.

Libraries not only provide resources for photographers to learn about our subjects, libraries also offer learning opportunities out of the personal reach of most individuals. The costs of reproduction editions of many of the photography classics are prohibitive for individual students. However, viewing Berenice Abbott, Ansel Adams, Yousuf Karsh, Dorothea Lange or Eugene Smith quality reproductions becomes possible through local libraries with inter-library loan privileges. The works of these old masters become our teachers.

Older works alone cannot educate a contemporary photographer. Ever-changing technical expertise is critical to the proficient digital photographer. Library resources and librarians have greatly enhanced my technical and artistic knowledge. It is to those who administer, support, manage, volunteer and fund our libraries that I dedicate this exhibit.

For even more information please follow this link: <http://tinyurl.com/plkp49> .

Shoot One for Yourself

The last three weeks have been unusually busy. Guess it's a good thing that I haven't announced this blog yet. I didn't feel compelled to take time to post.

Amidst client work, three competitions, other projects and preparations for a solo show, a few local events slipped onto my calendar. The Marshfield Citizen of the Year dinner takes place each spring. This year Jack and Beth Griffin deservedly received the award in front of a record sized crowd of well-wishers. I took the standard shots under the tent (not designed with photography in mind). The admiration, love and respect for the Griffins, and their many contributions to the community, was palpable, even in the far reaches of the second tent.

After I thought I'd left for the evening, I walked back into the adjoining 1699 Isaac Winslow House. Suzy B. sat with past recipient, Roy Kirby, in the beautiful tea room. Unposed, they turned toward me and gave us this candid.

Last night at a meeting of the New England Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers, Brian Smith of Editorial Photographer reminded his audience to "shoot one for yourself." When you've completed your client's checklist be sure to make the image that you want for yourself. Thanks to Suzy and Roy I not only shot one for myself, I sat and enjoyed quiet conversation and a respite from the busyness of checklists.

Thanks to all the Citizens of the Year and other nominees who make Marshfield, Massachusetts such a great community in which to live, work, play, and sometimes just sit with friends and neighbors.