Photo Blogging

dmkingto

Warning! Scenes of full-frontal nudity, violence, and fierceness below the fold.

When I first started working on the Stanford Campus in the spring of 2017, I was commuting from San Francisco. If I finished work during the normal evening rush hour(s), I would take 30-45 minute walks around campus to let traffic die down a little. It’s a beautiful campus, but I tended to keep wandering around the same areas – the main quad, etc. One day I took off in another direction as dusk was falling. After 5 minutes or so, I came across a small wooded patch. Although it was getting dark pretty rapidly, I figured it was still just light enough to wander through the woods. So in I went and came face to face with the Gates of Hell! Well, the Papua New Guinea interpretation of Rodin’s famous sculpture (there’s one of those in the Rodin sculpture garden in another part of the campus). I had no idea this sculpture garden even existed until I stumbled into it. But try to imagine coming across the sculpture below in a gloomy forest and you might understand why I was startled. There are lights in the garden, but they either weren’t working or hadn’t come on yet.

The genesis of the sculpture garden was in 1989 when PNG artists Naui Saunambui and Yati Latai proposed the creation of an art project in the US to Stanford anthropology student Jim Mason. (Mason was doing fieldwork on the Sepik River.) It came to fruition in 1994 when ten artists from the Sepik River region of PNG were invited over for a 4 month residency to create the garden.

On The Road – dmkingto – Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden (possibly NSFW)Post + Comments (23)

dmkingto

Just some random scenes from around the San Francisco Bay Area over the years.

On The Road – dmkingto – SF Bay Area ScenesPost + Comments (26)

mayim

As a photographer, I’m definitely more enthusiastic than skillful. My [late and much missed] father was an excellent photographer ~ award winning, he had individual shows in four countries.

His camera was a constant in my childhood. As I got older, my mother and I would sit in the car, reading or knitting and talking, while we waited for him to find just the right shot. When we asked how it had gone, he’d always mutter about nothing really working. But somehow he managed to take a huge number of excellent photographs despite his pessimism.

After my mother died, he was thinking about getting a new camera, as digital cameras were getting much better and less expensive. He kept dithering, so on one visit, I asked him why  he hadn’t gone ahead and gotten one. He replied “what if I die in three months.” My response to him was that then one of his children would have a really nice camera.

On a different visit, we stopped at a yarn shop for me. It was very hot outside, so dad sat inside, as the shop had a nice sitting area for non-knitting companions. The woman at the register commented on how patient he was. I wasn’t surprised ~ it was cool, he had a good book…. And he owed me (and my mother) for all those hours waiting for him to find just the right angle and lighting.

Since he was living alone after mum died, I’d call him just about every day to check in. His response on weekdays was pretty much always the same: he’d seen some doctor or another and he’d made a new print. So it wasn’t a surprise when we put out a table covered in duplicate mounted photographs at his memorial service and pretty much told people they could only leave if they took one.

I’ve got lots of favorite pictures of his. Below are a few I have on my computer ~ the CDs with his life’s work are packed away.

I’ve thought about doing a post with dad’s pictures for a while now but only finally started typing this on Father’s Day. I’ve just gotten to sending it in. Any typos are the fault of Scout, my big goofy cat who loves to “help” me at the computer.

On The Road – mayim – Digging out Dad’s workPost + Comments (66)

Hope everyone had a great holiday!

I saved the “possibly NSFW” post for Friday!

Albatrossity

Mid-May is the time when many of our passage migrants have moved through, and the regular Flyover Country summer residents have found mates, built nests, laid eggs, and are otherwise occupied with getting the next generation off to a good start. Clearly they are not Republicans, who are still inventing ways to screw over the next generation (and probably the generations after that). So, let’s forget about those guys for a while, and concentrate on the birds of May.

On The Road – Albatrossity – The Birds of MayPost + Comments (8)

dmkingto

A serious issue of social and political import.

On The Road – dmkingto – Noncompliance IssuePost + Comments (16)

Deputinize America

Following our visit to Melbourne, we moved on to Moorea by way of Auckland and Papeete.  Originally, we intended to connect via Noumea in New Caledonia, but there was significant political and labor unrest occurring there, rising to violence.  Given that our dive gear and warm weather clothing was going to come in checked baggage, we really needed a more assured level of baggage service that could be provided in Noumea – so we opted to come through Auckland, necessitating an NZ visa.  That overnight was incredibly cold and windy going from the airport to the hotel, but the coffee was first rate.

Papeete was utterly charming in that French colonial way – we had another overnight before our ferry to Moorea would be available.  Compared to Melbourne and Auckland, life was much more slowly paced on Tahiti.

The ferry ride was relatively short and uneventful.  Moorea is small, and while there are cars, I deemed it a “scooter and chickens island”, full of local charm with really good French wine and cheeses. our accommodations were in an overwater villa.  Diving was decent, although the coral was pretty rough and the reefs have taken a real beating from storms, bleaching events and overabundant Crown of Thorns starfish (which were being collected from the house reef by the score).

On The Road – Deputinize America – Moorea 2024Post + Comments (13)