Tag Archives: Traditional Culture

Like many children, I loved to go out in the rain and splash in puddles on the street.

Rain, like a cloud, is easily taken for granted. Water is integral to our existence. When we pause and observe, we have the chance to get in touch with something elemental in our lives.

Hurricane Milton, Sarasota, Florida

Different types of rain elicit a wide range of feelings. There is gentle, poignant melancholy in a light, mid-afternoon rain. It feels safe – even reassuring.  Rain is a symbol of renewal and rebirth. When rain comes in excess it can be terrifying, bringing the potential for destruction. We use our technology to build roads, canals, bridges, levees, and dams – assuming we can control nature. Then a devastating storm comes and we are painfully reminded of our limitations and the need to live in ways that are in harmony with nature, respecting its power.

I can remember a number of times when I was about to leave a cafe in New York City and a thunderstorm delivered a torrent of rain, giving me the excuse to stay put, have another cup of coffee, and share more time with a friend.

To order a print email me for sizes and prices

Art, Buy Prints, Fine Art, Nature, Nature Photography, New York, Recent Personal Images, Serenity

Rain the fragrance of the earth

Rain releases the fragrance of the earth

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Native America, Architecture, Mesa Vera, CO,

Interior Kiva at spruce tree house Mesa Verde CO

Sacred Light

Ancestral Puebloans built Spruce Tree House around A.D. 1200.  It was re-discovered in 1888, and is the third largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. This Cliff Dwelling housed somewhere around 60 to 80 people. This is a view from inside one of the 8 Kivas found at Spruce Tree House. Kivas are subterranean structures that were most likely used for spiritual ceremonies. 

This image is one of 12 prints in the collection “Art Within Architecture” on exhibit at Eastep Photography Gallery,  1338 Central Avenue, Sarasota, Florida, 34234.  The prints can be viewed on Saturday, September 29, 2018, between 11 am and 4 pm.  The Gallery is also open by appointment.  Call 917.675.0640 or write WayneEastep@Gmail.com

For print sizes and print contact WayneEastep@Gmail.com

Architecture, Art, Art Gallery, Art-within-Architecture, artists, Buy Prints, creativity, Culture, Design, Exhibition, Interior Design, Recent Personal Images, Sarasota, Florida, Art

Art Within Architecture Kiva Mesa Verde

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Architecture, Kazakhstan, Manghstau region, Shakbak-Ata, Shakbak-ata canyon, The Soul of Kazakhstan, Zoroastrian temple, ancient culture, ancient religion, traditional culture

Shakbak-Ata Zoroastrian Temple, Shakbak-ata Canyon, Manghstau Region, Kazakhstan

I traveled 3,295 km (2,047 miles) from Almaty, Kazakhstan to the edge of the Caspian sea to make this image of an ancient Zoroastrian temple.  The rituals are no longer practiced there so I brought candles to light the inside and show respect for their practice of using fire as a focal point of Zoroastrian rituals.

“Zoroastrian places of worship are sometimes called fire temples. Each fire temple contains an altar with an eternal flame that burns continuously and is never extinguished.”

Burning flame

Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.

For 1000 years Zoroastrianism was one of the most powerful religions in the world. It was the official religion of Persia (Iran) from 600 BCE to 650 CE.

While I was making this image a woman appeared at the entrance, came in and announced that she and her family were there to honor a relative who had died and was buried nearby in what the Kazakh’s call “the city of the dead”.  She invited me to join them in honoring her relative. She turned and walked out.

A print of this image will be shown this Saturday, June 30, 2018, 11 am to 4 pm as part of an exhibit exploring the concept of “Art within Architecture”.

Eastep Photography Gallery, 1338 Central Avenue, Sarasota Florida 34236.

If you are unable to come to the studio Saturday but would like to buy a print contact me about sizes and prices:  WayneEastep@gmail.com

http://www.WayneEastep.com

Architecture, Art, Art Gallery, Buy Prints, creativity, Culture, Design, Exhibition, Interior Design, Kazakhstan, Recent Personal Images

Art Within Architecture Shakbak – Ata

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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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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 desert of Saudi Arabia.

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

Visit http://www.EastepPhotography to see images from the book BEDOUIN

Saudi Arabia

BEDOUIN of Saudi Arabia

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