Here's our first ekphrastic (poetry based on art) effort. We'll each share thoughts about the whys and wherefores of what we saw and how we responded.
Photo: Lynette
"Late afternoon hike, heading back toward my car on an unfamiliar section of trail. My main focus had been looking down at where I was placing my feet on a steep rocky section. I turned a corner, looked up, saw this beautiful view and just stopped to take it all in. The saguaro standing like a sign post, guiding me, showing me the way. The wide-open valley in contrast to the narrow trail. The harsh beauty of the desert captured in Black and white."
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Poetry: Keith
Lynette's composition from footstep-to-forever caught in dramatic side light presented in a rich gray scale stunned me. Heck, I wanted the photograph to have come from my eye (well done, little sister!). Mr. Haddy would be proud. While I don't live in the desert like Lynette, I have spent time in the desert. I can smell this shot. I can feel it. I need a well-earned break to catch my breath on this trail. So much behind me, so much in front of me...knowing it's a long way to anywhere from there.
The saguaro is king of the photo, the visual element holds present and future in a momentary context. According to the Arizona Department of Education: "After 100 years they (saguaros) have several arms. After 200 years, they can have many arms." I'm seeing "many" arms here. And seriously, one of these arms is literally pointing the hiker up the trail. Makes me wonder if an arm points the other way when someone approaches going downhill.
So, distance and time play a huge component in this image. And the trail is not an animal trail, it's manmade. Humanity, hostility, environment, time, distance, danger, death/life. It's all here. Saguaro as "Sentinel" came to mind.
I felt the challenge was to embrace this complexity with simplicity. For me, there's literally a novel contained in photograph. Simplicity. Game on.
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