TALKTALKTALK

OPTICAL DILLUSIONS

Car Wash, Baton Rouge LA 2008

All reproduction rights reserved Wm. Greiner

There seems to be so much self promotion in the photography world directed towards other photographers.

I would love to know the ratio of photographers to collectors - 

So that all that self promotion could be directed towards the consumers of images!

PICTURING PEOPLE - Candy Sheets

Candy Sheets , Baton Rouge LA 2008

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Candy Sheets - Neighbor , Tennis Player , Restaurateur and Friend.

What's in the water?

Oil in Standing Water, New Orleans 2005

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The water in the drainage canal in Montegut is orange! 

The Terrebonne Parish canal has been discolored by the high level of iron oxide in the water. 

Why? Its caused by the dying wetlands in and around Pointe-aux-Chenes. Saltwater which surged inland by Hurricane Ike  is the most logical reason

for killing the vegetation.

BARING TREES

Bare Tree, Gulfshores AL 2007

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According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the death rates of trees in the Western U.S. forests have doubled over the past 2-3 decades. Why? The phenomena is largely driven by warmer temperatures and water scarcity linked to climate change!*

 

*Study finds tree death rate doubles, by Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post 1/25/09 

Make Sport not War!

Amer Delic and I , Baton Rouge LA 2008

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I have often thought , wouldn't it be nice to substitute a sporting match in place of a war? Battling the Japanese on the golf course , the Germans on a soccer field , the English on a polo field....... you get the idea. Someone wins, someone loses but no one dies! This is obviously not possible but a nice thought never the less.

 The idea came to mind last night when (Bosnian born) American, Amer Delic took on Serbian born (2008 Australian Open champion) Novak Djokovic in the third round of this years Open. Amer should not have even been there except for the lucky loser draw he had gotten because of other higher ranking players dropping out of the tournament. However, Amer Delic deserved to be there.

 Here was Amer, having won two hard fought matches in the first and second round,  going toe to toe in battle with Champion Djokovic. It went four sets and Djokovic prevailed, but what was heart warming was their hand shake and embrace after it was all over. 

 It didn't have to be that way , but it was a beautiful sight. 

 Sportsmen putting politics aside.

Sinator Vitter* please sit down!

Chair in Trash, New Orleans LA 2007

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I have never quite understood politics or politicians for that matter! 

I have come to realize, its often about power and control. 

Makers of the law rather than the followers of it? 

I was disappointed when I had heard about Senator David Vitters sexual liaisons, which were swiftly dismissed by the Junior Senator from Louisiana.

Today, Senator Vitter was one of only two dissenting votes against confirming, Hillary Clinton as our next Secretary of State! One of only two? Why?

I may have found an answer, if not the answer in Jeremy Alford 's article :

*Sinator Vitter  How U.S. Sen. David Vitter hopes to shake his ties to a dead madam

http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A49417

HOPE? not!

Pay Day Loans, New Orleans LA 12/2005

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John C. Hope III, the chairman of Whitney National Bank in New Orleans, stood before a ballroom full of Wall Street analysts and explained how his bank intended to use its $300 million in federal bailout money, by saying, “Make more loans?” , “We’re not going to change our business model or our credit policies to accommodate the needs of the public sector as they see it to have us make more loans.”

And what does this mean? It means , even though the Federal Government , intended this money to help lubricate the financial markets, what it is actually doing is allow people like John Hope to build value and wealth for his shareholders! 

As head of a corporation, that is his job, but this illustrates that regardless of what the intentions are of the government, somehow these programs get preverted towards other means and goals!

why cry

Birds in Flight, Baton Rouge LA 2008

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It was a sight to see, 

Aretha sang ,

Yo Yo played 

everyone watched 

from Atlanta to

Zimbabwe. 

It is the dawn of a new day!

Martin Luther King time

Clock, M.L. King and Kennedys, New Orleans 1992 from the series GBNF

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I cannot help but believe , M.L. King , would think what a great Birthday present tomorrow will bring!

MARK WHAT? Forgetting to Remember

Survey Marker, Baton Rouge LA 12/2008 from the series LAND'S END

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John M. Barry , author of “The Rising Tides” , and Commissioner of the Southeast Flood Protection Authority , has introduced a resolution to have permanent markers placed on telephone poles in various neighborhoods which flooded during Katrina to indicate maximum flood heights.

 Barry is quoted as saying, “Frankly, a lot of people have started acting like Katrina never happened”*! A $50,000  grant will be needed to cover the cost for the markers.

 I am not sure who John M. Barry is referring to , but , I am fairly certain if you were a New Orleanian during the time Katrina struck, I doubt you will be forgetting Katrina or the flooding in this lifetime? 

And for those who weren't, you would have to first remember to forget!

 

* Levee panel backs markers denoting Katrina flooding levels , by Allen M. Johnson Jr. , New Orleans bureau, The Advocate 1/16/2009

NO SMALL ISLAND

Formation off St. Barts 12/2008 from the series CRUISE

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The U.S. Census Bureau has revised its estimates of the number of people who lived in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes in mid-2007! 

This provides a morale booster to all who have come back to rebuild, as well as steering additional federal funding  to the region.

The revised estimate of the city's population on July 1, 2007, went  from 239,124 to 288,113! That is  an increase of more than 20 %.

Parachuting Dreams

Cargo Ship docked Port of St. Martin 12/2008 from the series CRUISE

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I usually don’t remember my dreams, which is disturbing because I think they could be a great source of inspiration. However, I do remember I have been dreaming a great deal about the Somali pirates who are seizing cargo ships for ransom.

 

I began dreaming about tactical defense teams , armed with all kinds of weapons , thwarting the pirates from boarding ships. Its strange because I don’t hunt , I wasn’t a Navy Seal and , in fact , never served in the military. I mentioned my dreams to a friend , a hunter , who said he had been thinking about the same thing.

 

We were ready , imaginary or not , to round up the guns and men to do it , until reading an article about how well the Somali’s treat the ship’s crews. Our desire to play mercenary army waned as a result.

 

I then started to dream about the money being parachuted into the small , fast boats! So much for dreaming?

NAMING RIGHTS

Creosote Soaked Pole, Baton Rouge LA 2008 from the series Land's End

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My current project in Baton Rouge started out as a series titled Bayou's Edge. However , the further I delved into the place and pictures, I decided Land's End was a more appropriate name.

Bayou's Edge connoted pictures made near a specific kind of body of water. Land's End refers to the possibility Baton Rouge could end up being a coastal community , if global warming continues unabated.

TENDING TREES

St. Lucia , Banana Tree Plantation 12/2008 from the series CRUISE

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Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, destroyed an estimated 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana! 367 million tons of carbon dioxide as they decomposed was released into the atmosphere!

 

The shade and wind buffering provided by trees reduces annual heating and cooling costs by $2.1 billion. Each average-sized tree provides an estimated $7 savings in annual environmental benefits, including energy conservation and reduced pollution. A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four!

 

Water originating in our national forests provide drinking water for over 3400 communities, and approximately 60 million individuals. One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles. Over the course its life, a single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide.

 

An average American uses about 750 pounds of paper every year, and 95% of homes are built using wood. That means each person uses the equivalent of one 100 foot tall, 16 inch diameter, tree every year for their paper and wood product needs.

 

Planting trees can be one of the best things we can do for the environment and our community!

ALL HANDS ON DECK

Rick's Hand on Deck, 12/2008 from the series CRUISE

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Spending 14 days on a ship , seeing the same people everyday , you are bound to meet interesting people? Rick McKay was one of those people. 

I would wake up for coffee early every morning and I kept running into Rick. Rick is an award winning documentary filmmaker, having specialized in interviewing Broadway stars and thus preserving theatre history. I didn't think I had much interest in theatre but I kept recalling different theatre people I had known, met or dined with over the years - Andrew DeSheilds, Patti Lapone and Bryan Batt came up.

One morning , in conversation and animation , Rick was good at both, I made a picture of his hand. Later , Rick told me he had been a hand model!

All hands on deck.

THE LAST VOYAGE*

Port of Miami at Night from Deck 12/2008 from the series CRUISE

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When I was a child , my parents traveled a great deal. They often took me with them but many times they did not. There was one occasion when they left my sister and I at home with our Aunt B and they went on a cruise. 

While they were away, we all sat around the television one night and watched a dramatic film about a cruise ship which had an accident. The ship was sinking. The husband was trying to save his wife , who was trapped in their cabin under a piece of steel or something. 

We were very scared because we thought, oh, this could happen to our parents! Well it didn't and in later years we had the opportunity to go on some cruises with them. I had long forgotten about that film until now.

My family and I went on a Christmas cruise with my parents a few year ago, to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. It was great and special. My mother died two years later.

This year we went on another, with just my father, but it wasn't the same without her. It was because of them , I started the series CRUISE, but I think the cruising and the series for me is over?

It was the last voyage.

*The Last Voyage (1960) , written and directed by Andrew L. Stone. Starring Robert Stack and  Dorothy Malone. 

Homage to Ralston

Port of Barbados 12/2008 from the series CRUISE

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I have not had the urge to make a black & white photograph in over 30 years, but when I did, I thought of one of my all time favorite artists - Ralston Crawford (Canadian/America 1906-1978). 

Crawford was a gifted and talented painter, print maker and photographer. Ralston worked in New Orleans for a period of time , making some of the finest Jazz Funeral images I have ever seen!