how to maintain the distinction between ritual and habit:
1) Comprehend the term ritual, preferably by implementing one or two for a visceral understanding, but by any means appropriate and necessary per individual.
2) Comprehend the term habit, preferably by examining one or two for a cerebral understanding, but by any means appropriate and necessary per individual.
3) Reflect.
4) Conclude you were mistaken... that you, in fact, do not know the distinction between ritual and habit at all.
5) Repeat.
letter to a friend
You have been in my thoughts and I just wanted to check in and see how things are going. Feels like I owe you a story and the least I can do is to try to make it a humorous one…
Before moving to New Mexico for school, I had my photography represented in a gallery in Chicago. I used to fix a lot of things in the gallery, so the owner was more receptive to some of my non-traditional ideas. She allowed me to show a few interactive installations—so long as they were at least loosely based in photography. The second of such pieces was a bicycle operated mutoscope. The night before the opening I didn’t sleep, opting to stay awake in order to finish the build on time. I went straight to the gallery to install in the morning. As I was collecting my tools, a friend of the owner who had been watching my frenzy (the floors were not level, thus upsetting the gear mechanism so some quick actions had to be taken to get the piece to work properly) came over and asked if I liked boys. My knee jerk reaction was a defensive "yeah, I like boys". I had grown weary of assumptions based on my knowledge of power tools and motorcycles, and I was exhausted, so I was just a wee bit oversensitive. Well anyway, he began to elaborate on Joseph Beuys...an artist I had never heard of. Needless to say I nearly choked on the foot I found lodged in my mouth. As politely as I could, I extricated myself from the conversation and the gallery. As soon as I got home I Googled the artist. I can now say with absolute confidence that yeah, I like Beuys.
the best photograph I never took
Without a tangible placeholder, the mind will find a way to hold onto something it deems important. One of the most enduring images I have captured is one that didn’t make it to film and is, instead, etched permanently into my brain. I was hitchhiking in Mali, West Africa. A lorry driver gave me a ride. He was stoically quiet and incredibly kind...refused any money and insisted on buying my lunch. Shortly after eating we were back on the road when a wind storm kicked up, filling the air with dirt. We jumped out to tie down the tarps on the load in back when four young boys in school uniforms walked by. As each one passed, he turned around and said "bonjour, madame", then bowed and laughed. At one point all I could make out were four sets of eyes with smiles piercing through a near solid wall of red earth. There was the overwhelming impulse to release my grip on the tarp and grab my camera, but I didn't want to compromise the driver, so I chose to not take the photo. I learned that sometimes it is more important to participate than to bear witness. And, as it turns out, that is one of the most vivid memories I have ever retained.