For years I have wondered what photography was. Is it an “art form”, is it a “craft” is it a “science” ? With the invention of consumer photography in the late 1800s it allowed pretty much anyone to make photographs, not just people who had lots of money and spare time to buy expensive cameras and learn death defying techniques to make photographs. Previous “photography” could have caused mercury or cyanide poisoning or flammable gases or the film itself going up in flames.
Now safe cellphones are with us all day, every day and it’s just a matter of having one’s eyes open. So much of society is unobservant, with their neck bent back arched thumbs and fingers typing that people forget to open their eyes.
Yesterday I woke up and eventually made some coffee. At first I had a shots of espresso, and drank some water. Eventually I made a French press of something else. The coffee steeped for it’s 4 minutes and I looked at the kitchen table at about 9am.
I woke up in the middle of the night this morning after dreaming of snakes. I surfed and eventually watched a TV preacher. He did his best to extract $1000 of “seed money” so I could sow his $1,000,000 harvest. He promised I’d be debt free and even after I gave him money on my credit card, I would not owe the money. He promised me many things, while I listened, I did not listen. Eventually I made some coffee and as I waited for the 4 minutes for the grinds to steep, the preacher continued. As my mind wandered I noticed the photogram I made the day before had changed.
The sun was not streaming in through the trees yet this morning but from the dim light over the sink. I turned it on when I put the dishes from the night before away when I ground the beans. The neighbors behind could watch another movie of me during their sleepless nights, it’s the same show often. They would see me grind the beans and added water to the French press. They would see me photograph the table, pour and drink the coffee and eventually I turn the light off and the show is over.
