Art, Recent Personal Images

A Forty Year Love Affair

nature, tulip, parrot tulip, flower, art, photography, photograph

Professor Rontgen Parrot Tulip

New York, New York City, art, flower, parrot tulip, tulip, art, photograph, photography,

Parrot Tulips on 29th Street, New York City

I’ve had a forty-year love affair with the parrot tulip.  There are a few moments when I meet someone or discover something in nature when a connection is established that lasts a lifetime.  I’ve been blessed with a few of these moments, the first time I saw Patti’s  eyes, she’s been my wife for 45 years.  The moment I looked into Layla’s face in the delivery room, 26 years later I am still in love with my daughter.  Then there’s the parrot tulip.

The first time I saw a parrot tulip was forty years ago while walking in the rain along Madison Avenue in New York City.  A corner flower shop had a  funnel-shaped galvanized bucket full of parrot tulips among the flowers on display.  Even now I remember the response I had, it was mainly wonderment.  Looking at the tulip was like looking at a flame painted into a flower.

A few years ago I had a florist importer order direct from Holland two dozen parrot tulips.  They were delivered every Monday during their blooming period.  I would take them into my studio, study them and make new visual discoveries each week. The first image with the black background is an image from one of those sessions.

Earlier this year while walking in the rain along 29th street near my apartment in New York City I came upon two parrot tulips.  There were growing within a metal enclosure around a Ginko tree. I got down low to take a closer look when I noticed the taxis heading westbound on 29th street.  The image of that moment is the second one in this post.

To see more images visit: Eastep Image Archive

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art, perception, abstract, mirror, sculpture, photo, photography, New York City,

Reflection of the Flatiron Building from mirror sculpture at 23rd St. and Fifth Avenue, New York City

Art in public space Singapore

Art in public space Singapore

broken mirror,nature, woods

Broken mirror in the woods, Sarasota, Florida

When I think about how we see, I sense that we look optically with our eyes and we perceive with our minds eye. The amount of information we see at one time is enormous. Our minds eye selects, filters, organizes, categorizes, defines, and correlates what we see, then creates meaning by integrating with our consciousness. Did I mention this is done in a micro second?

Art can frame and re-frame the physical world and help us see and think about what we often take for granted.  It presents  an opportunity to expand our perception and enter a state of observation and hopefully, awareness.

These three images that did that for me.   The broken mirror reflecting the surrounding woods was alongside the road.  The women in Singapore were having fun with a freestanding set of translucent and mirrored panels and the sculpture near Madison Square park in New York created segmented and reflected views of the iconic Flatiron building, the Empire State building and a tour bus along Fifth Avenue.

These images posit the question, what is consciousness?  They even challenge our assumption of what reality is.  Is it what’s in front of us, behind us, what we see within one plane or what we saw just before we became aware of what we are now seeing?  More often than not, the role of art is to raise the question rather than propose the answer.

Art, Recent Personal Images

Planes of Perception

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Nomads,Nomadic,Bedouin,Bedu,Saudi Arabia,Al Murrah,Portrait, people,

Murie bin Mohammed Al Murrah brought us a bag of truffles from the Empty Quarter. Dahana Sands, Saudi Arabia.

The Bedouin of Saudi Arabia are one of the world’s most unique nomadic people.  They survive in the Arabian deserts under some of the harshest conditions in nature.

The Al Murrah Bedouin tribe attracted my attention because they have lived as nomads in Arabia with an unbroken bloodline for 5,000 years +.  I figured such unique people would have important insights into human relationships.  I was right.

Leading Saudi families in government, business, judicial and academic communities have sent their young children to live among the Bedouin for similar reasons.  King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Sa’ud, the monarch who unified the Arabian tribes and created the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, spent time with the Al-Murrah in the southern deserts of Saudi Arabia.

When I began my documentary photography career I decided to study the Bedouin in Arabia, specifically the Al Murrah tribe.  This modest collection of images is from a library of over 25,000 images.  They are the subject of the book BEDOUIN which won the Pershke Price “Best Book” award and Gold Prize for the “Best of All Things in Print”.

To see more images of the Bedouin visit EastepPhotography.com

Culture, People who have influenced me, Portraits, Saudi Arabia, Travel

BEDOUIN of Saudi Arabia

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SunflowerSunflower plant forming a flower bud.Petals of a sunflower preparing to open

Petals of a sunflower preparing to open

Sunflower The nexus between art and science intrigues me.  The more I look, study  and  reflect on the design within nature the more I appreciate the relationship between science and art.  The elegant design of the sunflower is a good example of this relationship.  There is something in the design of a sunflower that informs our perception and moves us to call it beautiful.  When we study the structure of the sunflower we discover that the beauty is a combination of art and science.

The flower petals within the sunflower’s cluster are always in a spiral pattern.  Generally, each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5 degrees, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals, where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers.  This pattern produces the most efficient packing of seeds within the flower head.

This past spring I planted sunflowers  seeds then watched and photographed them from seedlings to mature plants.  These images were made from those plants.  To see additional images of the sunflowers I grew  visit my image archive; EastepPhotography.com

Related articles
Nature

Nexus of Science & Art

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Art

Study In Red

Art, Graphic, Abstract, Photograph,

Study In Red

When returning back to the studio from photographing the Perseid meteor shower I drove past the Ringling School of Art and Design.  As I glanced at the sculpture studio I noticed the sun coming through two panels.  This is the image I created a combination of peace and heat, a study in red.

http:www.//EastepPhotograhy.com

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Nature

Perseid Meteor Shower

Perseid Meteor Shower,Photograph

Perseid Meteor Shower, Gulf of Mexico, Florida

Perseid Meteor Shower, Gulf of Mexico, FloridaOne of the things about photography that still catches my attention is that I often see more than I thought I’d see.  Around 4 am this morning I went out to see the Perseid Meteor Shower.  I was delighted to see a few meteors.  I was thrilled to watch a distant thunderstorm move toward me across the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

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Recent Personal Images
Dog, Pet, Dog Playground, New York, New York City, Madison Square Park

Dog Playground, Madison Square Park, New York City.

I’ve had dogs and cats as pet’s since I can remember.  I’ve looked into their eyes and watched their body language  trying to figure out what they’re thinking.  But to be honest I really don’t know, I think I know but I am guessing.

The camera gives me a way of getting a little closer to approximating what my pets seeing.  At least I think it does.

To see more of my images visit: www.eastepPhotography.com

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Nature, Recent Personal Images

Black Birds at the Break of Dawn

Black Birds in flight

Black birds in flight

Black birds flying at the break of dawn.

From the Fine Art Collection visit EastepPhotography to see more

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Recent Personal Images

Japanese Dancer

Makeup for traditional Japanese dancer

Traditional Japanese Dance preparation, Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater

This young Japanese dancer was getting her make-up in preparation for a Japanese dance performance at the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater in Kyoto Japan.

To view other Fine Art Photography images visit: EastepPhotography.com

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Recent Personal Images

We’re Watching

Security mirrors

Safety & security mirrors in Singapore

While photographing at a refinery in Singapore I came upon these mirrors used for safety in Singapore.

They’re included in a gallery of fine art images at EastepPhotography.com

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