Dialogues Among Giants - Getty Center and Carleton Watkins

"Watkins was best known for his photographs of Yosemite, but he also took his camera to the silver mines of Nevada and Arizona, and up and down the Pacific coast. Throughout his career he applied his understanding of the elements of landscape as art. His early work with mining subjects proved to be excellent training for his eventual vision of landscape as a powerful counterbalance to the fragility of human existence. He harnessed the elements of visual form—line, shape, mass, outline, perspective, viewpoint, and light—to enliven often static motifs in nature."
From the exhibition, Dialogues Among Giants: Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California at the Getty Center, J. Paul Getty Museum. Link to an informative slide show and accompanying exhibition publications. 

In Focus: Carleton Watkins

Carleton Watkins in Yosemite

French Fries Discovered The Daily Meal

National French Fry Day (July 13) was commemorated by a cavalcade of outrageous American interpretations on the site: The Daily Meal: All Things Food and Drink.  A useful resource, if a bit terrifying.

Sugarloaf Construction

The evolution of decay....

Intimate Abundance - Heeki Leis & Paulette Tavormina

Startling and sumptuous still lifes by Paulette Tavormina.

crabapples

oysters

The equally startling and intimate rot of Heeki Leis

Can take about two weeks for food to rot

Three Sisters inspired by Review Santa Fe

So much time in New Mexico and listening to storyteller Joe Hayes tapes with our children had gotten corn, beans and squash stuck in our craws. Thanks to Review Santa Fe, we were inspired to develop the Three Sisters fable into a book.

Inspiration from Carleton Watkins 3 - Progress Report

The Farallon Islands, or Farallones (from the Spanish farallón meaning "pillar" or "sea cliff"), are a group of islands and sea stacks in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the coast of San Francisco, California, USA. They lie 27 miles (43 km) outside the Golden Gate and 20 miles (32 km) south of Point Reyes, and are visible from the mainland on clear days. The islands are officially part of the City and County of San Francisco, California.

The Farallon National Wildlife Refuge is one of 66 National Wildlife Refuges that have congressionally designated wilderness status. The Farallon Wilderness was established and includes all islands except the Southeast Island for a total of 141 acres.    

One of many of  Carleton Watkins'  Farallon Islands photographs ca. 1869.

sug·ar·loaf  [shoog-er-lohf] 1. a large, usually conical loaf or mass of hard refined sugar: the common form of household sugar until the mid-19th century. 2. anything resembling this in shape.

Working on defining the emotional content of the lighting -- night and day, happy or sad, special treat or painful dental decay.  Which rendering makes your teeth hurt more?