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November 3, 2017

BEANTOWN WANDERABOUT

... the recent semi-hurricane had cut the railroad tracks between portland and brunswick, so john and i ended up driving the interstate to newberryport where we boarded the light-rail for a most comfortable ride into north station at the center of boston ... a quick trip on the green line and, after a brief stroll in summerlike sunshine, we reached our destination, the museum of fine arts ... if the sign over the door, the ticket stubs, free coat check, and the nice cafeteria weren't clues enough, the view looking up into the atrium was in and of itself proof we were in the right place ...

... this shot is a more "realistic" interpretation of the scene ...

... john and i have great discussions about certain "abstract" art ... i'm thinking these people might have some of the answers i can't seem to find ...

... then again, here it is i who couldn't resist combining the view out the window to further abstract a glass geometry ...

... i'd very deliberately brought along only my 30+ year-old olympus zuiko 50mm f/1.4 manual lens ... on my fuji t-2 (ooops, i can but wish) xt-1 aps-c sensor camera the lens is effectively 75mm, or approximately two-power magnification ... a great focal length for natural portraits, but, as far as i'm concerned, otherwise rather constraining for general photography—which, of course, was my entire point in carrying just it ...

... in art museums i especially like watching others ...

... we had traveled to the museum to view the exhibit of images captured by alfred stieglitz ...
ALFRED STIEGLITZ - 1907

... a long, long time ago so desperate was i to become a photographer that i tacked copies of his photographs (and many others by the "greats") across my bedroom walls ... i would stare at them over and over, examining and inspecting and analyzing, "someday—someday i'll take photographs like these," i vowed ...

... however, as it has been all my life, three-feet in front of any painting by vincent van gogh is a most sublimely perfect spot to be ...

... given the opportunity, i might steal this painting ... i would hang it in my basement, telling no one i possessed it, and simply enjoy looking at it whenever i desired ... i would not do this with one of stieglitz's pictures, not even a photograph by ansel adams ... nor, for that matter, would a picasso, gauguin, wyeth or remington even tempt me ...

... if you understand this you understand two things ...

... art ...

... and me ...

... i like this image ... i don't know why ...

... it's a museum rule, you aren't allowed to touch the sculptures ... sad ...

... there are so many beautiful things on display ...

... life choices, perhaps ... ??? ...

... a glass filled "infinity room" ...

... again, i'm drawn to the people ... the relationship that develops between them and the art is the reason for the museum ... i'm not sure, but perhaps it is a reason for the art, too ...

... i wondered if he was talking to himself ...

... architects are artists whose medium is space ... 

... there're times i witness life juxtaposed with tiny details ...

... other times i become focused on detail itself ...

... i see it, i process what i see, and sometimes anew great mystery emerges ...

... each of these "fronds" is two feet or so long, the entire glass plant is over twenty-feet from its base to where it brushes against the skylight ...

... for me, this gallery was a bit of a time warp ... i had that album ... odd, while back then i enjoyed listening to hendrix it's now i much more seriously appreciate his art ...

... stairs, as i see them, are more than mere spatial transition ... 

... after a quick stop at the mary baker eddy library for a most enlightening viewing of the mapparium, we crammed ourselves back on the green line for the return to north station ... caught the northbound 3:15 with a full minute to spare ... with a stop for supper in portland we had a relaxing drive home ...

... what a wonderful day ...