 All over the place USA I've mentioned Thomas Merton a few times on these pages and I began thinking of him while putting together these photographs. He was a Trappist Monk here in Kentucky who was a well known writer and a lesser known photographer. Read some Merton on your next trip to the bookstore. In the spirit of a critical review, here's an excerpt: 'Why was I always half-convinced I would die young? Perhaps a kind of superstition-the fear of admitting a hope of life which, if admitted, might have to be dashed. But now ‘I have lived’ a fair span of life and, whether or not the fact be important, nothing can alter it. It is certain, infallible-even though that too is only a kind of dream. If I don’t make it to sixty-five, it matters less. I can relax. But life is a gift I am glad of, and I do not curse the day when I was born. On the contrary, if I had never been born I would never have had friends to love and be loved by, never have make mistakes to learn from, never have seen new countries, and, as for what I may have suffered, it is inconsequential and indeed part of the great good which life has been and will, I hope, continue to be.” January 31, 1960 About these photographs: I'm a snapshot photographer and I 'pile' them into a folder where I process them a couple of times a year. I've spent a few days going through the last 6 months of pictures and having the best of them printed. Have a nice weekend. Comment (3) | Permalink |
4x6photo.com | Friends, Family, and Road Trips | 01 December, 2006
