I hear and I forget, I do and I understand, I see and I remember
Images
Abstract Images are a common feature in our minds and world
Abstract art can help us see parallels and sense echoes between our aesthetic expression and forms in science and nature.
Sonar Image, floor of the Gulf of Mexico
At first glance, these images appear to be abstract art. Under closer examination, we see that they are scientific images of the ocean floor indicating deposits of gas, crude oil, and voids.
Sonar image of oil and gas reserves, Gulf of Mexico
Imaging of the brain produces similar abstract images. We have a natural capacity to know these shapes and use them in abstract art. Upon deeper reflection, we realize that we have the capacity to understand and express these insights through art. The cognitive function of the brain is what we refer to as the mind. Therein lies a universe of symbols and archetypes that manifest as innate knowledge. This may be why we are touched by abstract art. The art does not objectively describe something that exists as an object. It expresses something that we feel and know, almost like a memory from a dream
Sonar Imaging showing oil and gas reserves, Gulf of Mexico
To see these images and others in my photographic archive, visit my website: WayneEastep.com
Fine Art landscape prints illustrating the presence of wind and evoking serenity
Make your space serene with these fine art photographic prints. Abstract photography has the power to beautifully decorate a space and trigger an emotional sense of calm and serenity. You can select these prints or draw from my archive for similar images.
There are realities we know even though we can’t see them. There are forces beyond those which we see. Wind is a clear example of this reality. We can’t see the wind. What we can see is the effect of the wind.
These three images are graphic examples of that fact. The first image is looking through the surface of the Atlantic Ocean at the shapes of a sandbank created by the wind and tides moving the sand under the water. We don’t see the wind even though it helped create these beautiful forms.
The second image shows an elegant line on the edge of a large sand dune in Arabia. The wind moves the millions of particles of sand, reshaping an enormous sand dune. Even when we can see sand blowing off the edge of a dune, we are not seeing the wind but what the wind left behind.
The third image is a familiar image of a wave being shaped by the partnership of the moon and the unseen wind.
We see the trees sway, the grass bend when the wind moves. Our knowledge of the natural world informs us that the wind is at work. A higher knowing is our intuition, which takes us beyond the physical plane to the dynamics of energy active in the atmosphere, where the recipe of the elements is creating the forces that shape life around us. When we attune to this alchemy, nature is given a chance to teach us that there is an inner knowing which goes beyond what we “know”.
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Sometimes a picture leaves us with more questions than answers.
Take this image of Americas smallest Post Office.
Why is it so small? Why is here on the edge of the Florida Everglades? Having been exposed to so many hurricanes, how has it survived? Who uses it?
When I drove past the tinny building I stopped turned around and took a closer look.
I realized the picture I was going to make was less about the documentation of the architecture and more about the feeling it triggered the stories I imagined.
Who was the postmaster? How many people used it. If it wasn’t there how many people would be affected. What kind of relationship did the customers have with the postmaster? When was it built and why? The unanswered questions go on and on.
The saying is “ever picture tells a story.”
I’d propose that some of the more interesting pictures often leave the story unfinished with more questions than answers.
Kazakhstan is dotted with 48,000 lakes, many small like this mirror-surfaced one at Ush-Konyr near Fabrichny
A Visual Meditation
You don’t have to travel the world to find peace and calm. I’ve done that for you. Put this print on the wall of your home or office and have immediate access to a visual trigger that will transport you to a place of pure air, water, and calm.
To order this image, contact me directly to discuss an appropriate print size for your space. WayneEastep@Gmail.com
When you’re ready to look at more images like this, visit the image archive on my website: https://tinyurl.com/4t2sa3pp
Painted Eucalyptus Tree,
Sarasota, Florida
Image made with iPhone Camera
January 20, 22, 27, 29 10 am to Noon.
1338 Central Avenue, Sarasota, Florida 34236
Learn how you can make creative images with your iPhone Camera And Expand Your Way of Seeing
The course is designed to be fun, entertaining, and informative. The class is taught in plain english rather than techno-speak to make the technical functions understandable. You will leave the class feeling confident about being creative with your iPhone. You will learn how to control camera features like shutter release, focus, exposure settings, and a range of composition techniques. You’ll learn how to edit, organize, and store your images. You will also expand your creative way of observing.
As a Master Photographer (www.WayneEastep.com) I have been celebrated for my fine art, commercial and documentary photography. I have traveled the globe photographing commissions and assignments for National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and Fortune 500 companies including Nikon, Canon, Olympus, and Polaroid. I have produced and published six books featuring my photography and lectured at museums, universities, and professional organizations. I’ve taught this course to students who are beginners and professionals. Whatever your level of experience, this course will increase your ability with the iPhone camera and expand your way of seeing.
The fee for the course is $175. The class is limited to eight. Contact me to save your place.
I am honored to have my work about the Bedu of Arabia featured in the current issue of ETHMED online magazine. The values of this traditional and ancient way of life have persisted for over five thousand years and have adapted to modern life in the 21st century.
It was one of the highest honors of my life to be accepted by the clans of the Al Amrah and Al Erq of the Al Murrah tribes to live with them and document their way of life. From 1980 to the present I continue to maintain a relationship with the clans and learn so much about respect, honor, relationships, loyalty, survival, and adaptation a few of the values that define nomadic life among the Bedu of Arabia.
Gathering at the wedding of Mohammed Alerq. Social protocol demands that everyone sit in a circle. Dahna Sands, Saudi Arabia
What it looks like to replace Russian oil and gas.
Internal view of a furnace used to “crack” heat crude oil in the refining process.
Turning away from the use of oil and gas from Russia can be accomplished. What is needed includes; finding other supply sources, building new receiving ports, retrofitting existing refineries, expanding production, marshaling major engineering capacity, major capital investment, and time. Putting in place what is needed cannot happen in a few months. It will take a year for the quick changes and a number of years for a major realignment.
Understanding the petroleum industry by reading about it with all its unique jargon: “upstream-downstream,” Fluid Catalytic Cracking, Floating Production Storage and Offloading, Crude Assay, Sweet and Sour Crude Oil, etc., quickly becomes confusing.
Images offer the possibility of getting our minds around what these words mean and how the energy industry works. So I’ve compiled a set of pictures showing what’s involved in the supply chain of oil and gas worldwide in order to understand what the challenges and costs are in creating an alternative to dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Finding the oil and gas.
Locating sources of oil and gas is an industry unto itself and requires significant investment, risk, and commitment of time.
A geologist working on exploration of oil and gas, KuwaitSonar imaging of oil sources, Gulf of Mexico
Crude Oil Exploration
More often than not, places, where crude oil is found, are deserts and oceans. Advanced technology today helps reduce some of the risks by quantifying possible amounts of oil and gas at specific locations. The exploration process still comes down to drilling a hole in the earth, often thousands of feet, to reach a crude oil or natural gas source. The drilling rigs on land and offshore are an industry unto themselves and include names like Schlumberger, Valaris, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Nabors, China Oilfield Services Limited, and Petrofac, to name a few.
Crude Oil Drilling Rig, KuwaitDrilling rigs North Sea, Scotland Offshore drilling rig, Gulf of Mexico
Roughnecks, Louisiana
Roughnecks, on land drilling rig, KazakhstanCrude oil pump, Saudi Arabia Offshore drilling rig, Persian Gulf Offshore crude oil drilling rig being built for exploration in the Caspian Sea, Baku, Azerbaijan.
All in One Operations
Then there are “all in one” exploration drilling, processing, and shipping operations like the Tension leg platform, Floating Production Storage, and Offloading operation at Kizomba, Angola. Basically, these operations drill for crude oil, process it onsite then load it onto supertankers at the offshore location. Off the supertanker goes to deliver oil to a client.
Drilling rig on the left, Floating Production Storage for processing crude oil and a supertanker being filled up. Kizomba, Angola.
Shipping and Storage
Crude oil must be moved from its source to refineries where it can be processed into usable products like gasoline and diesel.
Supertanker offshore waiting to unload crude oil at a refinery in Kuwait for processing into petroleum products.
Storage operation in Saint Lucia for unloading some of the largest supertankers which require deepwater ports. The crude oil is stored, then transferred to ships that can enter the port at a refinery in St. Croix.
Tankers offloading crude oil and loading refined petroleum products at a refinery in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.
Processing crude oil into petroleum products; gas and diesel.
Turning crude oil into usable products like gasoline and diesel fuel is done at refineries like this one in St. Croix.
Construction of an LNG Train for converting natural gas into Liquefied Natural Gas, Ras Laffan, Qatar.
LNG refinery: Ras Laffan, Qatar. The plant converts natural gas into Liquified Natural Gas called LNG. The process uses three steps, gas treatment, gas compression, and refrigeration. LNG from Qatar could possibly become a source for Europe to replace the LNG they import from Russia.
An LNG pipeline connecting the Ras Laffan refinery to the port where special ships for transporting LNG take the gas and deliver it to customers worldwide. The LNG port at Ras Laffan, Qatar. A tanker designed specifically for transporting liquified natural gas.
Trains and Pipelines
Other methods used to transport crude oil and petroleum products include trains and pipelines.
Rail tanks are used to transport crude oil and processed petroleum products. Sarpom shipping yard, Trecate, Italy.
A train transporting gas from the Tengiz Refinery in Kazakhstan.
Oil Pipeline, northeastern Saudi Arabia near the Iraqi border
Crude oil pipeline, Kuwait.
A primary source of fact and insight about world energy can be found in the writings of Dr. Daniel Yergin, who is an American energy expert, economic historian, speaker, author, and Pulitzer Prize, winner. His most recent book, The New Map, is a timely read about geopolitics, the global economy, and energy. To learn more visit https://www.DanielYergin.com
Balancing energy needs for the short term and long term
Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world was engaged in an existential struggle: how to deal with the accelerating negative impact of climate change. Countries are still in a struggle with each other about how best to shift from fossil fuels to clean, sustainable energy. The urgency to find alternatives to oil and gas from Russia must simultaneously be met with concrete actions by countries worldwide to respond to climate change. The world order is under threat as a result of Russia’s war, and the catastrophic effects of climate change threaten life in our home, the earth. The challenge is whether we choose law over force to respond to Russia’s invasion. We also have a challenge of consciousness. Can we acknowledge our interdependence and work for the common good?
Electricity Solar Water Wind
Text and Images by Wayne Eastep
To see more images visit the energy collection at my website WayneEastep.com
The moon sits like a silent eye in the sky observing the earth.
Its phases serve as markers of time.
The lunar eclipse reminds us in dramatic and beautiful ways that there are three of us sharing the heavens; the sun, moon, and earth.
The physical phases of the moon; new, full, waxing, waning, bright, dark, rising, and sitting all serve as visual poetry about life as seen in the cycles of the moon. The reappearance of the moon every night is a reminder about the passage of time and while each day things change there is reassurance in the constancy of the moon.
Partial Lunar Eclipse of the Full Moon November 19, 2021, as seen from Sarasota, Florida, rendered in Black and White. “Blood Moon” of the Partial Lunar Eclipse November 19, 2021Full Moon November 19, 2021 also known as the “beaver moon” and “blood moon”. Observed from Sarasota, Florida.
“The Moon is a white strange world, great, white, soft-seeming globe in the night sky, and what she actually communicates to me across space I shall never fully know. But the Moon that pulls the tides, and the Moon that controls the menstrual periods of women, and the Moon that touches the lunatics, she is not the mere dead lump of the astronomist…. When we describe the Moon as dead, we are describing the deadness in ourselves. When we find space so hideously void, we are describing our own unbearable emptiness.” D.H. Lawrence, Phoenix: The Posthumous Papers of D.H. Lawrence. pt.4, 1930
Phases of the full moon during a partial lunar eclipse November 19, 2021.
To discuss your needs for sizes, materials and framing contact me at: WayneEastep@gmail.com.
You can select configurations and see the framed print within various rooms at my online storefront: Eastep store
See a full selection of images from this series on my website: WayneEastep.com
“Blood Moon” during the partial lunar eclipse. Partial lunar eclipse, black and white print.
The area of Sagano Japan has a remarkably beautiful calm and peaceful bamboo grove. There is wonderful sound when the wind blows through the bamboo causing it to knock together. Put that together with the sound of rain and your ready for a peaceful nights rest.
Bamboo grove, Sagano, JapanBring some calm into your lifeGiant bamboo in a grove, Sagano JapanDaydream your afternoon away. Perhaps one of the best things you can do for yourself.
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