Music-David Bowie-Low:Speed of Life
Talking Heads sang, "This is no party, this is no disco...". Well while KTV is not really a disco it is a synthetic party place. It offers your own room for your karaoke partying madness. These guys are getting ready to close-up and go home. Some how the party is never as much fun for the people that have to clean up. No one wants to be pushing the broom behind the elephants...

Wasn't looking for a streetcar named Desire when I found these buses. Wasn't looking for them either, so we'll count it as them finding me. Would like to ride them some day, maybe sipping a Taiwan Iced Coffee with Taiwan rum inside...or maybe just a bubble tea. Red energy on a blue/yellow day. Color this full.

Let's Dance! Let's exercise...One of the things I love about Taiwan and China is how people utilize public spaces as their extended living room. People think nothing of dancing,taichi,exercising, etc. in large groups in public. Bravo! I <3 it!

The new Transformer movie is out(snore) like the toys way better than the movies. Memories of son driving me crazy with transforming his transformers. One fo the coolest Japanese toys ever(no mean feat from a land of cool toys). Surrounded by machines-do you ever get the feeling they're watching us?

Yes, yet another change in name and theme for this site. Mostly cosmetic-we have been committed to producing, pointing to, digesting and regurgitating art in all of it's forms for a long time.  So our mission(song) remains the same.

 Orchid power-these flowers are very fussy and difficult to grow. I call this one "Black Orchid" do to the dark toned process. There is an air of mystery..moodiness. Do you have a black orchid hiding in the shadows of your life some where? Are you waiting for one?

 Setting up beside the road-this man sells his wares. Maybe you stop and buy from him, maybe you don't give him a second glance as you pass him by. One foot, on motorcycle, on bike. If you stop he is ready to serve. Fruits or vegetables-what you buy from him today will be part of you tomorrow and ever after.

 Bridges-devices linking to seperate places together. A channel, lifeline, road, doorway, link. This one red-the color of fire, of blood, vitality...

 Preaching to the choir-redundancy. They're already on the team, fired up, motivated wanting to go. Engines are ready, like a racehorse wanting out of the gate. Let 'em go! Blue is the color of water-quenches the fire. Brings refreshing and a moment to ponder...

OK so let's go with red-big surprise huh?This band and album/song changed my life,hope it touches yours.

Pixel

n.

 The basic unit of the composition of an image on a television screen, computer monitor, or similar display.

The art is in the capturing and treatment.

Worldwide Photo Walk-Taichung is making some progress with signups. Please feel free to join us or tell a photography loving friend in the Taichung area to join us. 全球攝影門市台中是取得了一些進展，註冊。請隨時加入我們的行列，或告訴攝影愛好的朋友在台中地區.

Musical inspiration: Melvin Gibbs-Elevated Entity-Sometimes

 "bunch a animals" since there is no "pinata" culture in Taiwan I will have to settle for these interpretations of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. I think kites and wire form creations are right up there on my list behind lanterns. All similar materials/constructions just some different applications. This in front of the FuHsing Matsu Temple Shiluo,Taiwan.

 "Pretty in Pink" was one of my favorite movies as a teen. The name and theme lend themselves to so many iterations. A busy day under the sun at outdoor food fair.

 We can all get "wobbly" sometimes for a variety of reasons: alcohol, fatigue, sickness, inner ear problems,  etc. Don't know what this fellow's reason was. Just seemed ready for me to photograph-so I did. Maybe I was the wobbly one?

 While not a big Ozzie Osbourne fan I couldn't help but think of his song title-"Fire in the Sky" for this image. Shot in the new downtain area of Taichung (moving westward out from original main train station area-towards China and the Taichung Harbor).

For black & white photos please drop by Big In Asia:Monochrome.

What am I seeing,hearing thinking right now? Well kind of excited to be involved in Worldwide Photo Walk project. Leading the walk here in Taichung, Taiwan. First time event is being represented in Taichung or Taiwan. There is another walk in Taipei being hosted by Craig of CF Images. Please contact either one of us if our location and event offer interest to you. Listening to some incredibly vital and inspiring music while I type this: David Murray-Gwotet. If you like music that makes you want to bounce and fall down and roll around all at the same time with waves of hot saxophones and Afro-beat rhythms-this is what the doctor ordered!

 When I see this image it hits me on 2 levels-the spiritual and lofty and the more mundane humorous-Praying Hands is  the title I chose for obvious reasons but the moment I did my mind went to Devo's zany "Praying Hands" song. Lord help me/us! In any case I think a person communing with their faith and deity is a precious thing and force.

 Sleeping it off. We've all had moments where we were overwhelmed by circumstances or substances. This fellow chose the safety of this park bench to deal with his situation. All around him the sun was rising, people were exercising, doing TaiChi, selling vegetables, but he just "slept." May we all have the sleep of this man when it is needed.

 I've walked by this spot in the nearby JiuShe Park a zillion times. This morning this spot cried out to me. The magic of the moment-I saw this spot like never before, especially the lovely bend to the manmade creek with all the pretty flowers gathering to greet me.

 All this red goodness is the gravy on this cute little girl's casual abandon surrendering to the joy of playing with founts of cool,wet water on a  hot early Summer day. Is there anything better? Where are your founts of cool water to refresh? Find them soon and relax for a minute. Listen to some nice music and take a journey-you'll appreciate the exercise.

Sometimes when I'm shooting photographs I feel elated by the element of discovery some magic bright moment captured on film memory chip for digital posterity's sake. However, when in the edit mode where everything is within the computer, a little tiny world primarily under my control I feel a sense of mystery in the editing process. There are many more choices here. This isn't like driving a car-straight, left, right. The levels and sliders of the software controls allow a much deeper range of micro-adjustment. Sometimes the results are great sometimes less so. Musical inspiration for this post is Wire-I Feel Mysterious Today. When this old woman was observed in this position I knew I had a great shot. The response on flickr was great right off. I knew my only task in post-edit was to portray her essence. A moment of fatigue in the course of her day as early-rising vegetable vendor. Some people ask me if I feel funny or wrong about taking people's pictures. My response is no because I know I'll try to present them in a way that their beauty can be observed. Everyone has that beauty, an artist should try to present that.

 The wonder and magic of people. A gesture a look a reflex captured at just the right time or hopefully in right way. The animus of people is quite fascinating. Movement provided by the breath of God...

 Making the mundane things like taking a lunch break at a noodle stand into an image that is archived and shared electronically over the digital grid for some to smile, gasp, shake their heads, nod in approval, deride....

 People from the Red World should never be taken lightly! It seems like one of my missions living in Taiwan with camera in hand is to capture all the red energy emitted here. Random thought-my name Mark is derived from Mars the god of war, the namesake of the planet. Anyway, red doesn't scare me...

noun
aphorism, a statement of some general principle, expressed memorably by condensing much wisdom into few words: ‘Give a man a mask and he will tell you the truth’ (Wilde); ‘The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom’ (Blake). Aphorisms often take the form of a definition: ‘Hypocrisy is a homage paid by vice to virtue’ (La Rochefoucauld). An author who composes aphorisms is an aphorist.

A usually pithy and familiar statement expressing an observation or principle generally accepted as wise or true: adage, byword, maxim, motto, proverb, saw, saying.

Is Twitter the coliseum of days past where aphoristic gladiators train and do battle?

 Sometimes you have to break eggs to make omelettes. Are your eggss scrambled, sunny-side up, runny, hard-boiled, rotten?

 An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Is your mind healthy and polished or is it more like  apple sauce? What is at the core?

 If wishes were horses we'd all ride. What is holding you back from riding instead of trudging? Need a horse, better saddle, riding lessons, more hay?

 Birds of a feather flock together. So what's up with him then? Do you do better at flying solo or in a flock? Your ducks in a row?

Today I'm the guy with the answers masked as questions, someday I'll be the guy with answers marked down ready for a sidewalk sale.

Definition:

• arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
• a product of your creative thinking and work; "he had little respect for the inspirations of other artists"; "after years of work his brainchild was a tangible reality"
• a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem
• divine guidance: (theology) a special influence of a divinity on the minds of human beings; "they believe that the books of Scripture were written under divine guidance"
• arousing to a particular emotion or action

Some of my inspiration lately has come from Flickr friends : their work and comments on my work. Colors, music, people's smiles, some kind words, etc.  How much and in what way this affects my work can't be measured but then again who cares? The fact that it's there is enough and I'm glad it is.

This shot and treatment are kind of different than a lot of the edgier/moodier stuff that I've been showing. That is fine with me. I don't like living in a  box or being formulaic in my art. If I catch myself doing that I try to correct it abruptly by trying something different. This shot taken near my wife's family house in Yunlin, Taiwan but in feel can be farm country anywhere. Thank God for farmer's and the fruits of their hard labors that keep us alive and healthy.

I don't record my settings when I do post-processing work. Partly because I'm lazy, partly because I don't want to. I believe much of art and most art for that matter are happy accidents. I like keeping it that way. This is one piece that I was very pleased with the result.

I've had so many temple shots here in Taiwan. I love lanterns in particular for their iconic status and boldness of color and shapes. Here I was trying for a different feel.

My good friend GuoWen took me to a coffee shop. When we got there we were greeted by the energetic and friendly proprietor who I later found out was in his 70's and had just had a mild stroke. I would have never guessed by talking to him and seeing him move. Mend well Mr. Coffee!

Some of the things I've seen and have captured my attention lately at YiZhong St, FengJia Night Market and at in-laws in ShiLo.

From the time I was a young basketball playing kid in Brooklyn sneakers have always played a big role in my life.
Sometimes you see someone that just captivates you when you are in hunt mode with camera in hand. MJ did that for me. I tracked him down and he surrendered to the lens.
In this case was a man with cute little girl that I couldn't resist shooting. How much beauty and mystery lives within people is amazing to me. That's what helps me put up with the bad stuff.
I've been wanting to get out and try some high ISO night shots. Thought FengJia Night Market would be the perfect spot and allow for some road-side empanada and other goody snacking.
We went for a visit to ShiLo to see my mother-in-law. While there got a shot of one of the neighbors going mobile.
I so love the textures of wood and old brick adding a doorway with it's perspective and light/shadow makes for a happy photographer.

Small Kingdom

BY SAMUEL MENASHE

In their doorways women sit sewing
By the good light of afternoon
And nothing is beyond knowing
Though the sun shall go down soon

A shepherdess near a bramble ditch
And the Princess in the Alcazar
Keep the same precise stitch
And they both can see far

And when the knell tolls
All are wondering who—
If it is a lady, many bells
For a beggar, one will do

Need to say special thanks to my friend Brian for loaning me his Pentax DSLR. Been getting lots of great shots with it. I've really been enjoying Flickr more and more. It's great meting other people from all over the world who enjoy and/or produce photos. Some really talented creative people there. Always being challenged to sharpen my eye and skills.

I am absolutely crazy about old wood, stained, raw, varnished and especially painted with paint fading. This is the door on my friend's family house dating back 3 generations.

Something about windows in dark rooms that call out to me. A little haunting, a lot fascinating and beautiful.

What amazes me is how you set out to shoot something and maybe you do but later you find what was waiting for you like a surprise gift that you were meant to shoot.

Maybe someone crossing the street will give you a glimpse into their being for a split second. Only the image serves as a witness of the micro-encounter.

Perhaps the whole time I've just been reflecting on myself?

The images I capture are certainly not produced from my imagination, but I believe I am led to them partly due to my imagination, and in the processing the imagination factor definitely throws down much harder.

Sometimes it is colors, sometimes texture, sometimes some other feeling that draws my eye and urges me to "click." I haven't given it much thought and probably won't. I love the spontaneity factor.

Light,shadow all beckon me. All aluring all different. All with a voice and a song.

Sometimes you start out thinking one thing and it changes. It was a calm moment but it morphed into a funhouse.

 

 

When you have all these thoughts 

just running around in your head 
how do you make sense of any one of them 
Switching from analyzing this 
to analyzing that   

Oh to find some relief 
Like to take my head off 
let all the garbage spill out 
Then I would be left with a empty head 
Funny I know 
But how else do you clear the clutter away 

I know what if I just say anything 
that pops into my head 
even if it is the wrong thing 
Would that be okay 
Or would my words hurt, 
not convey my real message 
or would they finally be mine 
uncensored 
out there 
just my truth 
and finally 
my voice 

Linda Engwall