Carpe Diem, Quam Minimum Credula Postero

 

So on an empty city street right after sunrise the raven had found an open public dumpster and decided to enjoy the moment. I stayed there with my dog watching them -- one would go in, while the other 2 or 3 would keep an eye on me and my dog. They found little to eat in there, as most of the trash seemed paper goods including soda cups that one raven seemed to enjoy tasting whatever was left in them.

And just when my dog was getting impatient and I decided to move, as if to tell me something about Carpe Diem, one raven went in, came out with a toilet paper roll and let it unfold like an ancient scroll! It did so meticulously by puncturing the paper at equal intervals and pulling it forward. These punctures can be clearly seen on the photo. And throughout this process the rest of the raven seemed to laugh through their cawing and calling.... 

So that was my moment. Soon a city worker will clean up the mess, some people will walk their dogs and the raven will retire to their high perches in the cottonwood trees. The future will thus be predictable and boring. 

But I had this moment and cherished it. Like many I was lucky to have which somehow would have lost their charm and grace if these moments had had a future. Trains do not use the train station for  parking -- eventually the rails call for travel.

But after so many years, I wonder what stays in us -- the travel or intimacy of the train station. 

September 26, 2020

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2020

The Morning Before Labor Day, Downtown Prescott, Arizona

The pandemic is still with us, but the city has opened to most outdoor events. So, Labor Day will see artists displaying their works around the city square. People will be out with their dogs and their hopes of returning to a lifestyle that has made this cowboy citya cherished spot 5,500 feet high in the mountains.

This morning, I took my dog for a walk just before sunrise. The city was mostly asleep and the downtown still empty. I took my Nikon F3 and a 1970s Nikkor 50mm 1.4 lens with me. I consider that lens a specialty lens since the 1.4 opening has to be used for special moments only. It has aberrations, the bokeh/ackground blurr is not smooth, and it is almost a spot focusing lens. But since it was still dark outside, I wanted to see what I can do with the quickly changing light.

… On early morning walks in any city one finds empty bottles of beer or hard liquor, testimony of a night when someone had tried to drown sorrows or celebrate the moment. This morning, instead of the bottle, there was a discarded facial mask. A vivid example of the new times.

This is a taxidermied Mexican wolf in the window of a historic Trading store. With the first rays of the sun, I wanted to see how the Nikkor lens would capture the reflection of light through glass.

Finally, when the sun hit the store walls facing west, the memorial statue of fallen soldiers from Prescott seemed to welcome the day. I like the photo at the outset of this page as it seems to give a different meaning to the statue, given the angle of view and the interplay of light and shade.

Street photography before people arrive to the street!

September 6, 2020

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2020