Read Part One Here Around 1764, Catherine the Great acquired a collection of paintings - including several Rembrandt's - that would subsequently hang in galleries connecting various pavilions of the Winter Palace and Imperial Hermitage. I don't believe The Return of the Prodigal Son was one of these initial acquisitions, but it makes sense that … Continue reading The Humility of God (Part Two)
The Humility of God (Part One)
This summer, my parents invited Jennifer and me (for a two year wedding anniversary gift!) on an eleven-day Scandinavian cruise. You read that right. The itinerary included stops in Norway, Germany, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, as well as two days in St. Petersburg, Russia. There was so much beauty to imbibe, from the vastness … Continue reading The Humility of God (Part One)
Views From New Windows
There it is. The world's first (documented) photograph. It is a heliograph, taken in 1826 by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce which required him "exposing a bitumen-coated plate in a camera obscura for several hours [an estimated eight] on his windowsill" [National Geographic]. It's a shoddy image by today's stands, but one can only imagine the almost … Continue reading Views From New Windows
Postals de Barcelona
This past August, I had the privilege of traveling (at last!) to Barcelona with my father. It was a chance-of-a-lifetime trip and I won't soon forget it. Thanks dad. Not the same without you, mom. David and Camille: you, Avignon, and Venasque were the perfect combination. Mercat de la Boqueria Taking a brief respite from … Continue reading Postals de Barcelona
A Camera is Worth a Thousand Words
Several years ago, my grandfather bequeathed his Rolleicord camera to me. He and my grandmother bought it in 1954 for 1,500 rupees (US $29.4) and it became their means of documenting the simple goings-on of home and family life. Until I got wind of its existence, it had been sitting dormant in a small valise … Continue reading A Camera is Worth a Thousand Words
The Decisive Moment
My favorite photographer is Henri Cartier-Bresson. In addition to being amongst the stealthiest of photographers (rumor has it that he could finish several rolls of film in a crowd without anyone even remembering that he was there), he had an uncanny ability to capture moments. Cartier-Bresson said the following of photography in the preface to … Continue reading The Decisive Moment
Writing Is Prayer 