Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Photos, Politics and Passions

Photography, as a powerful medium of expression and communications, offers an infinite variety of perception, interpretation and execution.
Ansel Adams

Recently one of the blogs I read said that going to a photo blog and finding political ramblings turns her off. It lead to some thinking about what is a photography blog supposed to be. The long and short of it is, that like love, it is a many splendored thing. To me it isn't just to say here are my pictures, it is to share ideas, passions, how you did the photo etc. In other word, what makes you want to explore what's going on for you. This blog shows photos, but it also shares things that happen that make me passionate. And while I am not a regular political commentator, at times I do comment because something has touched me or a photo I took seems to fit that topic.

My party affiliation is more often then not Democrat. Today the Democratic Party formally nominated their candidates. This an election where I'm not passionate about the presidential candidate, because I really don't find him as qualified as I wanted. But I am passionate about the Republican Party not having the Oval Office for another four years, so yes, I will vote for the Obama/Biden ticket because there isn't a good Independent alternative.

Many of my friends are Republican and we respect each other's differences. That's because even though we may be ideologically far apart in our interpretations of what America is to be about, at the end of the day, we share a passion/pride for the fact that we are American. That is we are about freedom/diversity and we make that diversity work for us all. And that's what photography is about and this photo is about. I don't usually do flag related patriotism, mine is more quiet and internal. But when I saw this photo opportunity when I was on the boat a few weeks ago, it spoke to me emotionally and so here it is.

So please any of you who have photo blogs keep sharing your passions, expanding my horizons, challenging me... I love the diversity that all of you offer. I may not share your point of view or understand what you're about, but you keep me feeling and thinking so maybe I'll eventually grow in a new way. Thank you all.

Because he is one of the most passionate American's around today, is our heartbeat and this song reflects that...

Bruce Springsteen, "Streets of Philadelphia":





No comments:

The Day America May Have Died

  "We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated  in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both....