Friends and Performers

People enjoying a festival are one of the many things that help define a place and a community. The two men standing next to each other, one in red festival garb, look up the street and communicate as men often do — by standing next to each other saying nothing. And the young girl concentrates on her performance as a majorette, baton in hand,…

The Adults’ Parade

These are two of a series of images from the Adults’ Parade — the culmination of the Christmas festival on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. If you enjoy a party, can find the shade, drink beer in the afternoon, and move to the earsplitting sounds of reggae, soca and calypso, you will like the Adults’ Parade and its genuine atmosphere of a…

More on “The Kiss”

The images here are a more abstract follow-up to the previous post, which focused on the the somewhat controversial “Unconditional Surrender” sculpture by Seward Johnson. The warm toned image above shows the sailor’s almost feminine closed eye at the moment of the kiss frozen in time. His eye is framed by other elements from the work — elements that suggest some of the strangeness…

A Walk in the Park

It all started as a simple walk in the park. But then a glowing blue screen appeared at the end of a path singing the siren song “come, look at me” as most blue screens do. I demurred, anxious about what might be lurking along the path and in the shadows under the ferns lining the way. Later, in the cool deep shade at…

Circles

A circle of tightly clustered snails near the water’s surface seems to overlap the circle of rock polished by the action of the sea. Below, an arc highlights a cluster of red globules on the beach next to the round seagrape leaf. While the circle is not always an easy design element to work with, it has always been a powerful symbol and metaphor….

Windows

A window in a wall between two spaces allows us to look from one space into the other. Looking in, we are often looking from a public space into a more private one. Looking out, we are more often in the private space viewing the more public space beyond. Of course, there are times that relationship is more ambiguous, or even reversed. As a…

Life and Death on the Beach

Sandy areas of the beach are riddled with the holes of ghost crabs that scurry in and out, leaving their trails in the sand. While the dismemebered crab remains near this hole is not a ghost crab, its proximity to the trail of the live crab was poignant reminder of the rhthym of life and death on the beach. The colors and shapes of…

In the Garden

During a peaceful afternoon in a forest garden everyday scenes come alive. When the breeze blows, the dappled spots of sunlight and deep shadows swirl around the three chairs neatly arranged on the lawn under a large spreading tree, waiting for the guests to arrive. And then there are the fallen leaves just under the surface of the water that has collected in the…

The Color Orange

Orange, the color of sunsets, mangos, and the aptly named orange. Every once in a while — and for a reason I cannot discern — I seem to focus on a specific color. This was orange’s turn. The subjects here were ordinary — a lone palm silhouetted against the fort wall, and the historic Christiansted church cloaked in orange canvas to rid it of…

Labyrinth at Mt. Washington

Estate Mount Washington in the lush tropical hills of northwest St. Croix contains the ruins of an old sugar plantation and rum factory. The current owners have cleared the bush from around the ruins and invite visitors to come explore the park-like grounds. Amid the ruins is a labyrinth. All are encouraged to walk it in contemplation and thanks. A labyrinth is an ancient…

Pointers in Red and Green

If there were such a thing as compass points within the picture frame, both of these images would be pointing off to the north-northeast. But they seem to be pointing to something else, too.

Messages from the Dark Side

I didn’t intend to produce such dark images. They just seemed to happen. The first came from a picture of some sponges along the beach, and the second is the old “Steeple Building” in the Christiansted historic district. Yes, centuries before its most recent reincarnation as a National Park Service asset, the Steeple Building was a Lutheran church. These may reflect my growing sadness…