Last year was an exceptionally good year for travel and some great pictures. As I said during the annual report of 2015, the pictures were good, and it would be a hard act to follow. I was almost right. But it turns out that while Jackie was in Hong Kong last month on business, she took one of the great photographs of all time from her hotel room of Victoria Harbor at sunrise, a photo that could be easily mistaken for a Canaletto, which more than a few people have alluded to. All else pales in comparison. She has taken our ongoing project of "Room with a View" to new heights.
Her uncropped photo is a master class in composition starting with the placement of the ship in the lower righthand corner which is the organizational lynchpin that holds everything together. Could say more, but "res ipse loquator", as they say. The rest of the pictures are mine and pale in comparison, but the show must go on.
The post office is the only government agency we have no reason to fear. Buy stamps, send postcards, support the post office. They still care about you.
As I reflect on my own photographs for the year, and for all previous years, for that matter, I must confess my long standing awareness of the fact that I keep taking the same photograph over and over and over again. Same organizing principle, different location. Always symmetrical, and organized around a central figure. Maybe the title of the blog should have been Monomania.
Jackie's photo is a good example of her ability to see the big picture and to shoot what's there. I see what's there and then try to squeeze into the tight, compulsive constraints of how I obviously need to see the world, symmetrically organized around a simple but compelling idea. Maybe I'm not the free thinker I like to think I am.
Peace on Earth and a Happy New Year!!!
Pablo
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