That time of year again

You can see Mr. Claus' presence in the Mojave:

Have a great holiday season - i got plenty up my sleeve

for 2018.

A Surreal Hourglass

Here's a most appropriate image for the passing of one year, the beginning of the next. And a new timepiece to contemplate - an hourglass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hourglass

I'm sure if you go shopping online, you can find endless variety,

people buy it for the design,

same as they buy watches,

it's about enjoying the design, & showing off one's taste and style.

And it's use continues even in digital land.

Various computer graphical interfaces may change the cursor to an hourglass during a period when the program is in the middle of a task, and may not accept user input.

Another example of how digital borrows from the past - the ca-chink sound a camera makes when you take a picture, and the shutter opens and closes. My Canon sure shot does this, and so does the 'Capture' program on my Mac when it captures a window or screen.

In conclusion, a bit of shameless self promotion.

After many years of making darkroom photomontage (since the late 80's), and not being able to get arrested for it except for a few appearances in competitive group shows, and some assignment illustrations in various magazines ....I am designing & publishing books I make at Blurb with 'Bookify' - two of them are on Amazon, one is at Blurb.

'California Beach Trip':

On Amazon:

www.amazon.com/dp/1364579138

'Desert Trip'

On Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1367900190

This includes an image i have recently posted, titled 'Desert Time'.

'Seeking the Vibe'

On Blurb:

http://www.blurb.com/b/6834807-seeking-the-vibe

Previews of all at:

http://www.bobbennettphoto.net/BB_Books/index.html

Stories to be told

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philosophical. 

For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.

If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

So here's this old battered sand-blasted book, lying in the sand at the beach. Are there stories here? Wisdom to be uncovered? You'll never know until you try and turn these pages... and they may crumble in your hand. The rocks/landscape the book leans against also tell stories, but they are much much longer ones - geology is about *long time*, millions of years.

*Read whatever you can*, no matter how it comes your way. You'll be glad you did.

Here's one last word or two, thanks to Rumi:

Oh, you don't know who Rumi was??

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi

“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing 

and rightdoing there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

“What you seek is seeking you.”

“Dance, when you're broken open. 

Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. 

Dance in the middle of the fighting. 

Dance in your blood. 

Dance when you're perfectly free.”

“Forget safety.

Live where you fear to live.

Destroy your reputation.

Be notorious.”

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames”

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing 

and rightdoing there is a field.

I'll meet you there".

If you like the image above, it's in a book i have self published, available on Amazon:
Desert Trip:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1367900190

Enough said / Fini.

Don't fail to see the unknown!!

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philosophical. 

For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.

If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

What a command, if that's what it is.

Perhaps it's a suggestion? Or would you call it a warning?

Who can see what is unknown ..and therefore probably unseeable?!

Well, you better try, 'cause it's comin' yer way, fer sure.

Ready or not - "Batter up!" (think baseball)

(Watch out for that curve ball!)

The lower half is a photo made at the Salton Sea, a man-made (by mistake) salt water lake in So. California. People made homes when the lake's shore was at a certain level, then the lake rose, and flooded them. It has now receded, and left a salt encrusted enviroment. 

You could say they... failed to see the unknown?

Shattered

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. 

Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philosophical. 

For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.

If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

As long as we've embarked on a series of images w/ a figure in silhouette in surreal landscapes, here's another. Someone is standing on (perhaps) a log, in a dry lake (dry lakes in the desert are mostly dry, until it rains) reflecting some of the distance, but not all. The foreground surface is shattered by a rock. The lone figure contemplates the distance, an eroded desert landscape at right, a ghost town structure at left. The person has no way to go but forward, backward is shattered, time only flows one way. Guatama Buddha's last words were 'walk on'.

Good advice - take it.

Happy New year - who knows what the future will bring??

'Fire, walk with me'

Quoting Rumi, once again:

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames”

A cairn marks the way, an explorer has taken direction, and set off into the fathomable, unknowable distance. Flames rise around the explorer. He is lit up, 'on a mission from god' to quote a movie i saw, i think the Blues Brothers, an unlikely source of a quote describing this image.
Do you recognize the image title? It's from 'Twin Peaks', a David Lynch masterpiece.
And it never hurts to quote Gautama Buddha's last words: "walk on!"
And, yes, set your life on fire.

A slight interuption in the normal flow of images.

After 20+ years of making darkroom photomontage, and not being able to get arrested for it, I am publishing books i make with Blurb, getting them on Amazon.

I recently published a revised version of the 'California Beach Trip' images - marvelous and mind-bending B&W darkroom montage images - done almost 20 years ago for a multimedia company that never used them.
The first version was a 'pull out all the stops' thing, adding many new digital images, & overlaying text on the images. i asked two excellent designer friends of mine what they thought, and both answered the same - 'get back to basics, just the B&W, use very little text, & don't put it on the images'.
I took their advice. So here it is, hope you enjoy - it is also much more affordable, fewer images and no blank pages. Add a copy to your bookshelf, or buy the e-Book - now that's affordable!

On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1364681250?keywords=California%20beach%20trip&qid=1449102160&ref_=sr_1_3&s=books&sr=1-3


http://www.blurb.com/books/6661547-california-beach-trip-photomontage-by-bob-bennett#basic

http://www.blurb.com/books/6661547-california-beach-trip-photomontage-by-bob-bennett/pages/0#basic

http://www.blurb.com/b/6661547-california-beach-trip-photomontage-by-bob-bennett

Yes, there are 3 different URL's, which seem to work differently on various browsers/systems - one of them will work for you, i sure hope!

The preview can't show all the images, but you can see them at the link below.

http://www.bobbennettphoto.net/BT_BW_Bk/index.html

There's two more books waiting in the wings, stay tuned, I'll be back!

The Prickly Pear Ranch

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.

For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

And if you'd like to learn more about how i do magic in the darkroom?

There's a link to some pages about that at the site too.

Time to quote Rumi again:
"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi

'Forget safety. Live where you fear to live' definitely applies to this place.
It's abandoned - two SW style shotgun shacks, outside Mojave Ca., seemingly surrounded by prickly pears.
Beware all ye who enter herein!

I won't try and add much to Rumi's words, but how bout another photo?
Here's another shotgun shack image, i titled it 'End of the Grid'.

 

And the B&W montage i did, which expands on the idea, end of the grid. The wire comes in from the left, the shack fades out to the right, dissolves into the desert.

That's all for now, i'll be back.. after this crazy thing called 'turkey day'.

Desert melody

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.
For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

The desert, the mountains leading down to it, outside Las Vegas NV. 2008.

There is music here, though it has no melody, no key, no time signature.
Random notes, sounds... created from nothing, becoming something, resounding in nothingness - and everything -  echoing in your head.
Enjoy the cacophony.
Dance.

A stairway to....

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.
For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: http://www.bobbennettphoto.net

If you're interested in how i create these images, i got another blog for you:

http://californiasilverwizard.blogspot.com/

"Stairway to...?"

The desert seems like a place that is almost devoid of life, harsh, inscrutable, totally unwilling to reveal it's secrets.
The emptiness sucks you in, and soon you learn what the emptiness teaches. It is actually a stepping stone, a stairway of sorts. Or perhaps a mirror - you see in it something of yourself - what that is, is up to you.

In a previous post i quoted Rumi:

'Only an empty bucket can be refilled'

The same is true here. There's a lot of silence here, so...
I'll quote Rumi again:

'Silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.'

Crown of Thorns

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.
For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

A throne of sorts, with a crown of thorns - what sort of place is this?

The thorns are actually a Joshua Tree, maybe not the acanthus you might have read about in ancient sources, but they are quite thorny enough.

Do you dare sit here? The chair looks comfortable enough, but the crown? I dunno about that.
I’ve been to this place. I think it's a place to make hard choices. Or maybe have deep challenging thoughts.

If you would take a seat, I could tell you just a few things about life.
Just a few. I don't know much more than that. Do you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_thorns

Always gotta quote Ahnold, the Terminator:
"Ah'll be back"

The Bucket

Rumi wrote that:

'Only an empty bucket can be refilled'

That's what this one is about.

Think about it.

And then put that thought into action, empty yourself, and get ready...

The Inspiration desk

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical, metaphysical, something like that.

For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

An abandoned weathered desk in the middle of nowhere, hasn't been occupied in a very long time, it awaits a user, a student perhaps. There are stars descending from the sky, & birds flying above, a way of saying 'take flight!? explore!?', they hover over the desk... to protect it? To make sure it is noticed?
Any of these could be true. If you approach, will they attack you as in an Alfred Hitchcock movie?...
Or will they circle 'round your head...in some kind of empathy?
Your guess is as good as mine.
If you can find an impromptu seat of any sort, pull it on up, set yourself down, and see what happens.

Breakfast

What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.
For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

 Breakfast

'Breakfast' - a curious word isn't it? a combination of two others. A 'fast' being a going without food overnight, a break being... well, a break in the fast. You wake up hungry. Coffee, tea, milk, juice. Eggs, sausage, bacon, perhaps some potato, fried up crispy and brown. Or if you do it California style? some chorizo and refried beans. A little cilantro w/ the beans, please. Some hot sauce in there, add it to any of the aforementioned.
And let me add extra sugar to that coffee, senorita.
The day before you is a desert, an empty slate, ready for your writing. So go at it.

A Flaming Portal

 What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.
For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net

 

A petroglyph points to a portal, a burning hole in a rock wall, a most perplexing phenomenon. When's the last time you saw a rock burning? I guess that might be called something resembling a volcano? Beside this portal is a break in the stone, a chasm between huge slabs of rock, in which a smaller rounded rock has become stuck in it's descent, trapped.

There's a small symbol at the bottom of the crack which means....?
What a contrast here - one rock is trapped, another reveals the distance.
Perhaps this is a geological version of the age old question - is the glass half empty or half full?

A different kind of window

 What is this blog about? In a nutshell, it's about black and white darkroom photomontage. Every few weeks, a new image with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.
For more details - check out the archive, the first post, April 26, 2015.
If you like what you see here, go to: www.bobbennettphoto.net
Or check out my other blog which talks about the darkroom work I get into:
http://californiasilverwizard.blogspot.com/

A very severe Nevada landscape, a rock wall hundreds of feet tall, carved by geological and hydrological forces too massive for us to wrap our heads around. Overlaid with an abandoned window in the ghost town of Bodie, a Ca. SHP.
Much has been written about the American SW desert, trying to explain why it is so entrancing, mesmerizing, inexplicable. I am reading a book by William Least Heat Moon titled 'Blue Highways'. Somewhere in there that I didn't earmark the pages were excellent ruminations about the desert.
There's a lot of nothing there. Thanks to the lack of tall vegetation (like back east - trees!), you feel like you can see forever, miles and miles and miles. Of what might seem to be nothing.
But somewhere in 'nothing' is everything. And this rock wall would be mute if you were to ask 'how? when?...'
So perhaps this image is about the window that this nothingness and inscrutability can be.

About the blog, and the blogger

Your host and blog-master is a 63 YO photographer hailing from San Rafael, CA., USA.
The header image should tell you what this blog is a-gonna be about.
He first tried out photomontage in the mid '80s while shooting architecture left him with alot of time on his hands in the winter. (I mean who wants to see any buildings surrounded by snow? Nobody! If you don't have interiors to shoot? You're unemployed. He decided to *DO something*! w/ the down time... with a Beseler 45MXII at his immediate disposal (with seriously great lenses), he went wacko.)

The guy was instantly hooked, & has been so ever since.

When Photoshop finally came of age, all his photo friends thought he would abandon 'darkroom'.
Nope, no way, no how.
Yeah, he does some digital work, (which might show up here from time to time), but nuthin' beats darkroom.

He recently became aware of the fact that blogs are made to be 'mobile friendly'... and his various websites are not. Bummer! He's not going to rebuild them or pay someone big $$ to revise them, He likes the way they look, and  he doesn't really care for the formatted (=automated) looks that so many people go for.
Just take a look at his main site:
(on a real computer)
www.bobbennettphoto.net
Nothing 'cookie cutter' about it. And another thing about all the automated site building options? Yeah they have lotsa choices, but only those choices. He does the site w/ Dreamweaver, and can customize any page, anyway he wishes. He likes that.
-----------------------

I do a blog about darkroom, and get into how each image is built, show the negs, talk about the technique. It's really for darkroom montage artists, however many there are of them out there. Probably damned few.
Here, I am just going to show images, that's all. The blog is a way to get around the mobile unfriendlyness of www.bobbennettphoto.net.

So I'll be dishing out an awesome image every couple of weeks, with a few words about it, kinda poetic, philsophical.


As a prelude, take this in:

"FIRST THOUGHT, BEST THOUGHT"
DOCUMENTARY, THE CAPTAIN - Captain Beefheart of course - who else?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBa8bS_vZkM

Here's the first offering:

Explorer

One of my first darkroom montage images after arriving in Ca. in 1992.
Ends up being one of my best. A circle of stones is broken - an explorer of sorts heads out into uncharted territory, symbols of power and transcendence are on the horizon.
Shall we follow him? Yes, let's do that, but at a safe distance - ya never know what kinda trouble he might get into.

And if you'd like to get a print?
Here's the place to go:

http://bob-bennett.fineartamerica.com/