Get up to speed.

Another excellent video about the enigmatic photographer Vivien Maier (I posted another one here). I am very intrigued by her supposed total disinterest in becoming discovered or popular, as well as her total gift of the artist's eye when it comes to both composition and subject matter.

Dokusan is a Japanese word that means to go and see the teacher alone. It is an important part of zen practice together with zazen (meditation), the precepts1 and koan2 introspection. During extended periods of meditation practice (be that a single day or multiple days known as sesshin), it is usual that the teacher provides opportunities for dokusan.

Camera: iPhone17 ProMax “Life migrates. It is dynamic. It moves from the south pole to the north pole and back again in a single season. It is turbulent. It has its own inner gyro. It flies, as do the great migratory flocks through the sky at night, fixing on its own constellation, its own guide star, its own polar star.

Sounds heard whilst simmering over my bed coffee: It is 5am. Magpie carolling. Box of bottles being emptied into a faraway metal bin. Motorcycle downshifting. Unknown bird that sounds like a notification (why dont I know which bird this is?). Sirens. Waxing and waning on the breeze. Movement clank from the roof space as the house wakes up.

Exploring the sacred.

I got a new phone. It pleases me not.

Sunday is market day.

Camera: Fujifilm XT5 I have never really gotten into the Halloween thing. Back when I was a kid it was barely even celebrated here in Australia. But that has changed. Halloween has been monetised and commercialised and instagram-able-ised, and now its a thing. Ahem. Pushing my overly reflex cynicism aside....some people do a pretty cool job with the horrorfication of their front yards in celebration.

This mornings ritual.

Somewhere, out at the edges, the night is turning....

Here's your problem. Capitalism is the economic system where the regime of power is linked to regime of property through the doctrine of proportionality, the regime of property is linked to the regime of capital through the doctrine of dispossession, and the regime of capital is linked to the regime of power through the doctrine of hierarchies, while the entire mechanism is pushed to expand without limit for the purpose of capital accumulation.

Camera: Fujifilm XT5. Every day is a good day.Every windy day is a sheet day. Today is a very sheet day.

There is a young man I know that is currently striking out to make his mark in the world. The world. Its a tough gig. Especially when seeking councel amidst the Cat 5 shitstorm of online influencers. The most dangerous and self-harming thing you can do as a man is to adopt the persona of the man you think you should be.

So what is all this Zen stuff about anyway?

Things men1 have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing for long years.And for this reason, some old things are lovely, warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them. —DH Lawrence.

I just realised that it has been a hot while since I have posted a selfie. You were probably thinking I had grown out of such frivolous selfie-centred activities. *sigh* ……………nope. Oh, and my dog is in this photo also. He has recovered well from his spinal injury and is now manifesting a high frizz of rascal energy that spikes in the gigawatts. Right then, lets get back to some serious photography....

Social media taught us that our worth is measured in numbers. Likes, followers, views, engagement. We chase trends not because we enjoy them, but because we're afraid of being left behind. We upgrade our phones even when the old ones work perfectly fine. We turn hobbies into side hustles before we've even learned to enjoy them. We got burnt out even before we learned how to enjoy something thoroughly.

Life is short and they want it ALL. #photography #blackAndWhite #socialMedia

Capitalism is rests on wires. Humanity rests on pipes.

Im struggling with my own behaviours right now.

Take the passage.

Here there be dragons.

You just gotta keep up with the feed man.

A week of posts you may have missed.