It is an honor to have my photograph be part of the permanent collection of the 9/11 Tribute Center Museum in New York.
The image is of the Windows on the World restaurant at the World Trade Center. The restaurant was on the 107th floor of the North Tower. The image is accompanied by a quote from a former employee of the Windows on the World restaurant.
Windows on the World, World Trade Center, NY, NY
Can Beauty be a Political Statement?
Blue rods of light
I speak for myself. Civility in America’s public arena is under challenge through crass, vulgar and denigrating speech. The growth in tolerance and egalitarianism over the past few decades is facing a setback through intolerant language and actions. When I watch tv news, read newspapers and listen to the radio I come away with the sense that America is in a dark threatening time.
As an artist what can I do to contribute to a more civil, tolerant, inclusive and positive society?
Can beauty be a counter to ugly language and behavior? I believe it can. The laws of science and human behavior support the principle of balancing forces. I offer beautiful images as an artistic and political counterbalance to the ugliness. I invite you to join me in the affirmation of life as we strive for refinement in our lives. What we visualize will have an impact on our attitudes and behavior. This is not a naive call for putting our heads in the sand or pretending that there aren’t a multitude of challenges to the common good. For me it is a recognition of the negative and a choice to turn toward the positive. In the face of darkness and ugliness, light and beauty is a revolutionary action.
To see more images in the Color & Light series visit WayneEastep.com
Abstract color study. Yellow and Gold.
Study of color and light
Color and light along with shape, form, texture and shadow are elements of abstraction that intrigue me. This is a study of pure light and color. To see more visit the color and light gallery at WayneEastep.com
Graduation is an occasion by the bright and brilliant to share their big ideas about what is important. This important speech was given at his graduation from the presidency Jan. 17, 1961.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower as he was leaving office on Jan.17,1961 warned us of the military industrial complex. We have failed his warning. But like most things in life there is always opportunity for change. The real threat we face in America is not a military invasion. The real treat is effectively educating our young people, providing jobs that pay a real living wage, health care for every citizen, increasing our investment in research for curing or preventing Alzheimer’s. Our country is threatened from within not from outside.
Radio interview on 95.5 WSLR. (Podcast) Patti and Wayne Eastep share their first hand experiences living with the Bedouin the Saudi Arabia.
Patti Eastep in traditional Bedouin dress living with the Al Amrah clan of the Al Murrah tribe in the Dahana Sands in Saudi Arabia.
Wayne Eastep in traditional Bedouin dress photographing in Saudi Arabia.
Wayne with Sheikh Jaber of the Al Amrah, Saudi Arabia
We often hear terms used in the public discourse that we may not fully understand. Seems it might be useful to have a quick lexicon of a some of those terms. Believing as I do that words matter, here’s my contribution to a more informed debate.
Source…The Random House Dictionary Of The English Language
Narcissism…1. Inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity. 2. Psychoanal. Erotic gratification derived from admiration of one’s own physical or mental attributes, being a normal condition at the infantile level of personality development.
Bluster…1. to roar and be tumultuous, as wind. 2. To be loud, noisy, or swaggering; utter loud, empty menaces or protests.
Bully…1. A blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people. 2. Archaic. A man hired to do violence. 6. To act the bully, toward; intimidate/domineer.
Xenophobia…(Merriam-Webster) if you look back to the ancient Greek terms that underlie the word xenophobia, you’ll discover that xenophobic individuals are literally stranger fearing.An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.
Nationalism…3. Excessive patriotism; chauvinism. 5. The policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one’s own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or common interests of all nations.
Misogyny… hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women.
Machiavellian…2. Being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli’s The Prince, in which political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler is described. 3. Characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty. 4. A follower of the principles analyzed or described in The Prince, esp. with reference to techniques of political manipulation.
Racism…1. A belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others. 2. A policy, system or government, etc. based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination. 3. Hatred, or intolerance of another race or races.
Ill-Mannered…having bad or poor manners; impolite; discourteous, rude.
Crude…2. Lacking in intellectual subtlety, perceptivity, etc; rudimentary; underdeveloped.
Vulgarian… a vulgar person, one whose vulgarity is the more conspicuous because of wealth, prominence, or pretensions to good breeding.
Superficial…4. Concerned with or comprehending only what is on the surface or obvious; a superficial observer.
Bludgeoning…3. To force into something; coerce; bully: The Boss finally bludgeoned him into accepting responsibility.
Cocky…arrogant; pertly self-assertive; conceited: He walked in with a cocky air.
Condescending…showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority.
Duplicity…1. Deceitfulness in speech or conduct; speaking or acting in two different ways concerning the same matter with intent to deceive; double-dealing.
Self-Aggrandizement…increase of one’s own power, wealth, etc., usually aggressively
Conceit…1. An excessively favorable opinion of one’s own ability, importance, wit.
Selfish…1. Devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests, benefits, welfare, etc. regardless of others.
Provocateur…1. A person who causes trouble, causes dissension, or the like; agitator.
Provocation…1. The act of provoking. 2. Something that incites, instigates, angers, or irritates.
Provocative…1. Tending or serving to provoke; inciting, stimulating, irritating, or vexing.
Obscene…1. Offensive to morality or decency; indecent; depraved; obscene language. 3. Abominable; disgusting; repulsive.
Superior…5. Showing a consciousness or feeling of being better than or above others; superior airs.
Materialist…1. A person who is markedly more concerned with material things than with spiritual, intellectual or cultural values.
Trickery…1. The use or practice of tricks or stratagems to deceive; artifice; deception.
Arrogant…1. Making claims or pretensions to superior importance or rights; overbearingly assuming; insolently proud.
Vain…1. Excessively proud of or concerned about one’s own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited. 2. Proceeding from or showing personal vanity: vain remarks. Syn. 1. Egotistical, self-complacent, vainglorious, proud, arrogant, overweening.
Vainglory…1. Excessive elation or pride over one’s own achievements, abilities, et.; boastful vanity.
Unfounded Claims…1. Without foundation; not based on fact, realistic considerations or the like
Haughty…1. Disdainfully proud; snobbish; scornfully arrogant; supercilious.
Cruel…1. Willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others. 2. Enjoying the pain or distress of others. 3. Causing or marked by great pain or distress; a cruel remark; a cruel affliction. 4. Rigid; stern; strict; unrelentingly severe.
Con Job…Informal. 1. An act or instance of duping or swindling. 2. An act or instance of lying or talking glibly to convince others or get one’s way.
Patronizing…displaying or indicative of an offensively condescending manner.
Self-absorbed…preoccupied with one’s thoughts, interests.
Self-justifying…1. Offering excuses for oneself, esp. in excess of normal demands.
Hypocrite…1. A person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. 2. A person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
Delusional…3. A false belief or opinion; delusions of grandeur. 4. Psychiatry. A fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact: a paranoid delusion.
I looked down at the edge of the driveway and noticed an inch worm making its’ way into the dirt. When I examined it I wondered, is an inchworm really an inch long? When I placed it on a ruler I saw it was three-quarters of an inch, at least this one was. As I photographed the inchworm it lay still and looked more like a twig, a rather effective camouflage. Enjoy the up close and personal look at this intriguing tiny creature.
Inchworms are classified in the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Lepidoptera, family Geometridae.
Inchworms lack appendages in the middle portion of their body, causing them to have a characteristic looping gait. They are also called loopers.
This inchworm proved to be three-quarters of an inch. It was very effective at looking like a twig.
Seems animals and insects, like humans, cannot resist getting into each other’s business.
Looper, Inchworm on my property in Sarasota, Florida
Saturday May 6, 2016 10:00 am Patti and Wayne Eastep share their experiences of living with the Al Amrah bedouin clan in Saudi Arabia. The radio interview will air on WSLR program “Let’s Talk About The Middle East”
Patti in traditional Bedouin dress in the Saudi Arabian desert.
Wayne Eastep in traditional Bedouin dress photographing in Saudi Arabia.
Al Amrah bedouin clan of the AL Marri Tribe preparing coffee in the Dahana Sands of Saudi Arabia.
To see more images of the Al Marri Tribe visit www.WayneEastep.com
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