Culture-less.

If you are an Eagles fan, I am referring to the band, you might remember the song “Hotel California.” One of my favorite lines in the song, and I use it often is, “You can check in but you can’t check out.” It seems for many people, this seems to be the way they live their lives---they have the same interests they had when they were growing up as they have today.

As I have grown up, and in some ways I actually have, I have seen my interests diversify quite a bit. A long time ago I was fortunate, I guess, to see a performance at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Of what I recall, and it has been many years, a soloist and a piano player played and sang for about two hours. Of course since I was not a frequent patron of the arts, the black ties that everyone else was wearing during this mid-afternoon concert, were under shadowed by my sweater and khakis. Hey, I was much more comfortable than they were in one way. I might add, that was my last time at the Opera House; however when you walk by you sometimes will hear the singers belting out their tunes---I just walk quickly by and smile.

Now I might not be a huge opera fan, but I do enjoy going to art shows, museums and events that would be seen as a lot different from the ice skating rinks, Denny’s, and Steak n’ Shake’s I used to visit when I went out with friends. Although they are culturally diverse----at least at Steak n’ Shake you can sit in your car and have your food delivered to you---they do have one thing in common; it was a great place to meet girls. (That was a big deal when we were in our formative years.) As a matter of fact, one of my friends from high school ended up meeting his wife at Denny’s!

Culture and photography actually go hand in hand very nicely. I know if I had the opportunity to shoot photos of professional ballet dancers, I would do it in a heartbeat. They are graceful, provide movement that can be captured in a photograph, and ballerinas were the subjects of some of the master photographers who I am in awe of. All you have to do is look at Alfred Eisenstaedt’s portraits at the ballet and know it is a shot worth taking. How do I know? I have one of his photos.

The photo above is an example of my change in tastes. At one point I would have looked at this statue and seen a woman without a top on (I am a guy after all) but when I took this photo I saw something much different and wanted to capture it that way. I wanted to have the railing purposefully lead the viewer's eye to the statue; and then once they did that, then they could tell she was not wearing a top.

Thanks for stopping by.