March 2015

Part of the Problem
Montgomery, Alabama
2015

[warning: political rant below]

These gentlemen are of some of the Chief Justices of the Alabama Supreme Court over the years. The statues stand about a half block from the capitol building on whose steps state troopers refused access to the voting rights supporters who arrived from Selma on March 25, 1965 after a 54 mile walk. These same state troopers had attacked the marchers on their initial attempt to start for Montgomery on March 7.

When your government officials not only refuse to protect your rights as citizens, but perpetrates state sanctioned violence against you as a means of denying you those rights, the world must seem a scary place. Certainly the situation with civil rights in Alabama has improved some since the fellows show here served but the courts in Alabama are still part of the problem–as evidenced by current Chief Justice Roy Moore’s defiant stance on the separation of church and state as well as gay marriage.

Far Afield
Bozeman, Montana
2015

Hanging On By Your Fingertips
Beartrap Canyon, Montana
2015

Phoenix Rising
Madison River, Montana
2015

Larry and Julian Bond

We’re in Montgomery, Alabama this weekend for activities at the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) related to the 50th anniversary of the pivotal march from Selma to Montgomery march in support of voting rights and the subsequent Voting Rights Act passed by Congress.

We went through Selma Friday morning on the way here so weren’t around when President Obama, Representative John Lewis, et al. were there. But at a dinner Friday evening we did get to meet another hero of mine, Julian Bond, a lifelong champion of civil rights for African-Americans (and more recently the LGBT community). He co-founded the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee for civil rights in the early 60s, served as chairman of the NAACP for 12 years, was the first president of the SPLC,  served 20 years in the Georgia legislature, etc. etc. etc. Most of us can only dream of having such a distinguished record of public service.

Connie (a.k.a. the Fashion Queen) got in on the VIP action as well, posing here with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Connie and Nancy Pelosi

We were humbled by all the major players we met this weekend, but also encouraged by all the stories we heard about the regular folk that were part of the voting rights effort 50 years ago. Their stories reminded us that everything we do as individuals to promote such causes, no matter how seemingly insignificant, has the potential to be a contribution to a making this world a better, safer, more fair place to live for everyone.

Dualities #12
Beartrap Canyon, Montana
2015

I’ve been using the Dualities title to label paired photos of somehow similar subjects. But this photo made me realize that the concept can sometimes be fully expressed in a single image. (Compare the jagged ridgeline to the cloud above.)

The Woods Have Eyes
Bozeman, Montana
2015

If you stare at this log long enough, it’s not hard to imagine a sentient being lies within.

The Ragged Edge
Bozeman, Montana
2015

Another shot, this one in black and white, of the last light of day managing to breakthrough the overcast just as the sun was setting. Here a sliver of the Story Hills on the east edge of Bozeman is illuminated as well as the turbulent clouds on the edge of an advancing rain/snow squall.

Split Sun
Bozeman, Montana
2015

Lately we’ve had a number of cloudy days where, just at sunset, the clouds break up to let a few rays of sun shine through for a few minutes before it turns dark and provide some rather spectacular lighting on the mountains.

Red Aura
Bozeman, Montana
2015

It’s not often that I find a scene with subtle color that I am really attracted to that also doesn’t work, albeit differently, in black and white. I tried converting this one to black and white and it just didn’t do anything for me at all.

I realized that this image reminded me of, and perhaps was heavily influenced by, some of Elliot Porter’s more subtle photos of tangled woodlands that I was really drawn to in the late 60s and 70s. Here are two examples:

Redbud Tree in Bottomland
Eliot Porter Photo
1968

Red Osier
Eliot Porter photo
1957