jimwdollar

Good and Bad Religion

1. Bad Religion is grounded on facts. Good Religion is grounded on metaphors and symbols. Bad Religion has symbols too, but calls them facts. Take the bread and wine of Communion. Bad religion says they are the body and blood of Jesus. Period. That’s ALL they are. Any time you can say ALL a symbolContinue reading “Good and Bad Religion”

Disclosure

I have chosen to photograph things as they are in their natural setting. I do not dig up a waterfall, for instance, drag it into the studio, position it carefully against a muslin backdrop, adjust the lighting and take the picture. I travel to the waterfall and take what nature gives me. Or wait untilContinue reading “Disclosure”

The Fourth Week

Monday It helps to go without expectation, just being open to what you find when you get there. There is no way to plan for some shots. Maybe the leaves are right, maybe not; maybe the sky is overcast, maybe not. Maybe it’s raining, maybe not… So much has to come together, you’ll make yourselfContinue reading “The Fourth Week”

The Third Week

Monday There are no excuses for missing the photograph. Our job is to get the photograph. Not to be there five minutes late. Not to fumble with the equipment. Not to not-know how to use the camera. Not to forget to check the focus, and the exposure, and the composition. Anybody else can fail inContinue reading “The Third Week”

The Second Week

Monday Our job, our work, is to trust our own magic—to trust what we do to have its own magic. Take the photograph! Let taking the photograph do its own work, work its own magic. Do your part, do what is yours to do, and disappear. Get out of the way. Trust the magic ofContinue reading “The Second Week”

The First Week

Monday Looking for photographs is the most soothing pursuit of my soul. I’m just looking. At this point, I’m not trying to arrange, prevent, manipulate, control, produce—that will come later when I have narrowed my search to this clump of crocuses and have to remove the dead leaf and the stick, and block the sunlightContinue reading “The First Week”

The Land of the Critters

Once upon a time, in the long ago and far away, there was a land where the Critters lived. There were blue Critters, and red Critters. There were orange Critters and purple Critters. There were pink, green, and yellow Critters; pink-and-green Critters; green-and-yellow Critters; plaid Critters; pale Critters; striped, and splotched, and dotted Critters… ThereContinue reading “The Land of the Critters”

The Dome

The Domes were built by the survivors of the Great War to enable the continuation of life on earth. They were large, air-tight, multi-level structures in which every square inch of space was utilized in the effort to support life. They were coated on the inside with a special sun-absorbent paint which made the domesContinue reading “The Dome”

The Magic Stick

One day, Michael Smith decided to go for a walk in the woods, but when he got there, he found that the woods had been cleared away to make room for a shopping center. All that was left of the beautiful forest was one scrubby, scraggly, skinned-up stick, standing in the midst of acres ofContinue reading “The Magic Stick”

The Little Engine Revisited

Chug-chugging and puff-puffing, the Little Engine rounded a bend and came upon a stalled train loaded with toys and food, sitting on a side track at the foot of a very high mountain. “Deja vu!” said the Little Engine. The sight reminded her of the day she made her mark in the world of trainContinue reading “The Little Engine Revisited”