the human picture

Walking around in the neighborhood, you see other walkers. Sometimes there are joggers, and some people run. The joggers and the runners are obviously exercising. The walkers may be exercising, but sometimes they are just taking a break, thinking things out, or having a private conversation with a friend. It's a common simple pleasure for young couples too.

children out for a walk

For some years now… maybe more than 20 years, I have gotten used to seeing people walk around with earphones on, connected to their stereo players, or the radio news. In the last few years, more and more people are seen talking; carrying on a conversation. When I was young, a sight such as this would have been evidence of insanity. A person talking to himself?! But now it only means that he or she is having a telephone conversation. It took some getting used to. This is all part of the technical evolution of human kind. I suppose that for the hard working business man, or a lover shopping for his beloved, there is a great advantage in the ability to call from anywhere to anywhere at any time, and make the connection. But there are disadvantages too, that claim their space right along with the advantages. How wonderful it is to take a walk and find quiet, whether it be in nature, or in the middle of the bustling city. You can let your thoughts go free, and connect with one another on automatic. Stream of consciousness. I have often found solutions to problems that have vexed or frustrated me, while walking, or while showering, and letting my thoughts run wild. And though it is nice that we can organize our own play list and listen to a continuous flow of songs that we like best… or turn on the radio in the middle of the shopping center and hear the type of news that most interests us… the fact that we are constantly exposed to the media, allows us less privacy. We have less and less time for our own private thoughts.

our very unusual synagogue

As I was walking through the neighborhood, I was thinking that every hour of the day has its own character and its own activity. I hadn't started out very early. I had had some things to take care of at the start of the day. The serious work force had already left for their jobs at the very beginning of the day. I try to avoid that time, because it is too intense. I don't want to find myself in the middle of a traffic jam. That has happened to me any number of times. When I used to have a lecture scheduled for the start of the day, at the college; 8:00 o'clock in the morning, I would leave my house at 6:30 just to avoid the traffic jam. I would arrive at ten to seven and then read a book till eight o'clock, and found this vastly better than the slow crawl on the freeway, as I and thousands of others made their way to work.

As I took my walk, I saw a group of students, dressed well, in suits and white shirts, waiting for the bus, but willing to hitch a ride if such an opportunity presented itself. There were grandmothers taking babies for a walk in a baby carriage; some businessmen hammering away at a business deal, and a few people opening the shops for the days commerce. This is the neighborhood that I have lived in for the last 35 years. It has changed a little, but not that much. I think that I have changed more than the neighborhood. There are certain oddities that I love. Like the wooden house that was built on top of a large stone apartment building, pictured at the start of this post. I enjoy watching little uncharacteristic additions sprout among the houses of this neighborhood; houses that were once very uniform.

Drizzling rain, and getting dark as the day finishes early and the atmosphere here in Jerusalem is reflective, moving from fall to winter. I am thinking of a gray cat on a gray day, and of hints in the fog… and how much I disliked fog when I first got to know Noga, many years ago, and that she turned me on to the subtlety of it. We get so used to the routine, that sometimes it's only a big bang or a shouting roadside advertisement that'll wake us up. But just as thrilling it is, to be able to pick up on the subtle hints and go with them… to see suggestions in the fog.

Bashan cows

It's strange. There's the smell of dust in the air; the dust that the rain is collecting and washing out of the air. One by one, I can see windows turn bright yellow, as people in the houses across the valley turn on the lights in rooms scattered across the neighborhood. Nechama, my lady cat watches paws on the sidewalk downstairs, peeking from behind bushes that line the sidewalk. My eyes are past them, fixed on the very depth of the picture as seen from our living room window.

cows in the fog

the sun is going down unseen. Just by the fading light do I know it. Hunters; they got a bad name in our generation, killing for sport… and when they were killing for furs it was even worse. But they had to develop patience and an ability to blend into nature; an understanding of the animal they were hunting, its habits and mentality. They had to hit the target the first time, because the prey knew he was there after the first shot. Those photographers who go off to Africa to shoot pictures of the same animals now, are not so different. But as for me, I prefer to study my immediate environment. It is always changing. As long as one stays truly awake, there is always something new to learn and observe.

cow on a glass bottle

this cow was embossed on a transparent glass bottle. Most of the time you could barely see it, but with the right light on it, or coming behind it, you could enjoy it. I don't know what the bottle held when it was first sold. Nowadays it contains water from the faucet, and sits in the refrigerator till it's brought to the table. On the table, cold from the refrigerator, drops of water have condensed from the humidity in the room, and are now part of the picture.

Sometimes, these problems just seem to sneak up on you. Like the beginning of a fall rain, a drop here, and then another drop… and then another. But that is usually expected. When the hints are unexpected, one sometimes prefers not to think about them. Or not to think of what they're leading to. In the case of the problem I'm dealing with now, I became aware of the fact that there was a problem, but believed that I would be able to deal with it in the process of working with the photographs in Photoshop. But it turned out not to be so easy, And the more I worked with it, the more difficult it was.

I like to shoot inside without the use of flash. And I've gotten used to the fact that this type of photography usually us accompanied by some sort of color cast. But in recent months, many people I know have been buying a new type of bulb, that is something like a fluorescent tube, except that it screws into the socket made for an incandescent bulb. And though it looks okay to the eye, when you're in a room lit by such a light, I find that the lamps have a greenish cast, that is hard to get rid of by working with the photograph in a photo program. I remember, years ago, we used to use purple filters when shooting without flash in a room with fluorescent lights. But the fluorescent white balance was not able to help me so far. This is because the color changes with the distance from the lamp to the subject. But I intend to try a few different cameras, to see if I have some way to overcome the problem.

The photos here have all been 'corrected' as best as I could. But I still see the green cast. Do you see it? Does it bother you?

There is one way, of course, and that is to switch to black and white. Which I could do, because I like the monochrome. But I like color too, and it is hard for me to surrender to this new bulb, and not shoot color because of it. Another method to overcome the influence of the green cast is to shoot with the help of a flash. But in general, flash photography, if not in a studio, tends to flatten images.

The grass is always greener on the neighbors lawn, they say. The country mouse comes to the city, and is filled by the wonder of the cityscape. And the city mouse comes to the country church, and wonders if this isn't paradise. I've lived in the city almost all my life. It's my city and I love it. But I've often dreamed of the pleasures of the country life, and like to go to the country for my vacations.

Here in Jerusalem, each neighborhood is like a self contained world. As a photographer, I used to do my own developing and printing, and spent many hours in a dark room, doing my work. When working with black and white, one can illuminate the room with a red light, because the papers are engineered so they're not affected by the color red. It is as if the room was pitch black even when you have the red light on. But color papers are sensitive to any light, and so you really have to work in the dark. Now that I've changed over to digital, I am able to work in a fully lighted room, with an open window, and I am more aware of the environment outside. As I write this, I'm sitting in the office of a customer, on the third floor of a building, and I hear children playing in the school yard across the way, and cars honking and moving and driving on the street below. I hear the bell of the elevator every time it stops on our floor. And see some tree tops through the window, and apartment houses across the park. There is a taxi station not far from where I'm sitting, down on the street, and I can hear people talking occasionally, or calling out to one another… sometimes even arguing. There is something very nice about city life, that I enjoy. And it is a lot more fun now, that I work on the computer, and not in the closed room of my lab.

Having a laptop, I have also gained much more mobility. I can take my work to a friend's house, or to a customer, and have everything I need in a small package.

Another advantage of living in the city, is that one can get just about anything one wants or needs within a very short period of time. I can eat Chinese if I feel like it, just by going down the street, or find a book that I just heard about from a friend.

The home is a very private space, engineered to satisfy the needs of the person, no matter whether he be in the city or the country or commune. That is his personal space. When I am in my home, it really doesn't matter that I am in the city, unless I want to order pizza at 11:00 pm. In order to thoroughly enjoy the city, you have to be outside. You can take a walk along the city streets, or go shopping in the shops (which I rarely do); visit interesting sites, or take some newcomer or visitor to see the sights. This is a very good way to know any place. Though sometimes it's embarrassing… if the visitor asks you about some landmark, and you don’t know anything of its history. It's not just that you're an idiot. Your also useless!

Today, for instance, as the shadows grew long, after I had already started this post… and even posted the first part of it, got together with a dear friend of mine, and we went shopping for ingredients. She did the shopping, and I saw the sights… and they were intoxicating. After all, some people have made it their profession to attract our attention, and yet it's all more gentle and beguiling than the advertisements we're occasionally exposed to. My eyes took the merry ride down the streets, past the neon signs, and to the products seductively presented on the market shelves…

In the novels that we read, the love stories, and the romances, and the Hollywood films about love and relationships, the greatest interest is usually in the process by which two people bridge the gap between two different worlds, and commit themselves to a relationship of love. There's always the hope, and sometimes it is even a spoken promise of 'happily ever after'. Often, in the middle of the courtship, there is some terrible difficulty. The parents are against the relationship. One of them finds out something about the other that makes the possibility of a life together very unlikely. As they grapple with the difficulty, they find themselves all the more tied to the other; wanting the love to succeed.

Rivka and Giddi

Those of us who have married, and have lived with a husband or wife for a number of years, know that the real difficulties only begin after that 'happily ever after'. How hard it is to share our life with another; to make the compromises needed for day to day coexistence. Each has his own vision of the relationship, and his or her expectations. And often, there are disappointments. If falling in love is blind, how difficult is the process of learning to see again. One question I've often wondered about, is just how close we should be to those we love. Should we spend as much time as possible with our mates? Sleep with them in the same bed? Or should we keep a little distance between ourselves, for the sake of mutual respect. I chanced across a blog post the other day, about sleeping together. The blogger had reached some conclusions very different from my own. But reading her thoughts on the subject, I thought about the fact that there is no 'right' way to do it. Everyone has to figure out what works for him.

Rivka

My daughter Rivka runs a kindergarten that operates according to the Montessori method. She and her partner, Kika, also offer course in 'family physics'. I'm not sure what that is, more than a system by which people can learn to live together in peace. She and I have had many differences along the way, and I have learned to appreciate her dedication and ability in preserving relationships, and making them work better.

kindergarten

Many of the people I have known, have problems, resentments, and bad memories connected with their parents. And many of the parents have difficulties with their grown up children, often because of expectations that aren't realized. Is it possible to overcome these problems, and have gratifying relationships with people that we have resented, and been angry with?

We usually get together once a week. We talk about the things that really matter to us. And speaking for myself, I've learned a lot from her. We're meeting today, and I'm looking forward to the meeting.