W. Eugene Smith was known as the pioneer of photo-journalism. The photo-essay above of Dr Ernest Ceriani, a country doctor in Colorado was widely acknowledged as an original journalistic form. One of the most vivid images shows Ceriani looking exhausted in a kitchen, having performed a Caesarian section during which both mother and baby died.…
Nature, Posts
The Aerophytic Orchids in Tropical Spring
The aerophytic orchids that hang by threads of weathered linen on the peacock tree is blooming in profusion. Meanwhile, the peacock tree, feeling parched, clipped, and facing its own existential threats, is not providing enough to shield and relieve the orchids’ entitled blooms. Sun-damage! The bottom-fishers bloom with abandonement. While seeds fall to the ground…
Nature
Sunbird on a Peacock Tree
Panasonic GX8 Olympus 275 mm F6.7 1/640 sec September 2023
Books, Complex & Simple, Persons, Places, Posts, The Arts
The Genesee Diary – A Reflection on the Monastic Life by Fr Henri Nouwen (1976)
I chanced upon the Genesee Diary in a Thriftbooks store somewhere in my travels. It was owned by an ‘Anne Green’, scribbled in pencil on a discreet corner of the first page. The cover was tattered and a little worse for wear, an added attraction to a yet unread book with a strange title and…
Nature, Posts
My Singapore Sunbird
The Singapore olive-backed nectar-loving sunbird that visits my garden is bright and chirpy in the morning. That’s why she’s a sunbird. Her effervescent presence permeates the early morning humidity as she announces her presence on the ginger. You can tell it’s a she from her upperpart olive-green plumage and completely yellow underparts. The juvenile sunbird…
Complex & Simple, Nature, Posts
Sundays in July 2023
These July days will be the hottest in 100,000 years. Thankfully, we have the flora, fauna and the occasional thundery showers, to remind us of the eternity of Creation. Singapore Garden. Panasonic Lumix G9. M.Zuiko 75-300mm July 2023.
Complex & Simple, Nature, Places, Posts
Spring is Black – Travels through the Aso-Kuju Highlands
Spring is Black, Summer is Blue, Autumn is Red and Winter is White. Thus read the colours of the seasons in the 1770 book “Kuju-sanki”, which describes the landscape of the Kuju Mountain Range, its people, lifestyle, and the 260-year history of Mt Kuju Hakausuiji-temple Hokkein, which was a site of mountain worship (From the…
Complex & Simple, Nature, Places, Posts
We too, are Sowers
Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the beach, and he told them many things in parables. He said, ‘Imagine a sower going out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell…
Complex & Simple, Persons, Posts, The Arts
Discovering Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023)
It seems to me that the genius of the late composer & musician Ryuichi Sakamoto was in his offerings of serenity and momentum, with subtleties of transitions, always with exquisite timing, as befitting the visual imagery and the moment. Listen to his composition Blu, commissioned for the 50th Anniversary of the Aoyama clothing company in…
Nature, Persons, Places, Posts
An Unplanned Encounter in Jeju
When we visited Jeju island in the autumn of 2022, we had not expected to experience another Encounter with the Lord. As it were, the allure of old friends reuniting, nature beckoning, and savouring the yet unfamiliar Korean cuisine was enough to assure us of a most fulfilling week of fellowship and experience to come.…