Lazy Daze and Fuso Santek

Many experts say that a Lazy Daze is the best motor home build in the USA. If you want to purchase a new one, you can order a Lazy Daze from the factory in Montclair, California and you are put on the waiting list. It takes 6 to 9 months before you can enjoy owning this magnificent motor home. There are no dealers having new Lazy Daze’s in stock. Only way to buy a new one is straight from the factory.
But then you have the Rolls Royce among the motor homes. It is very well designed. Very well built. From first class materials with best skills.
It is unique in the USA to find a recreational vehicle of such a high quality in that price range.
Travelling and living in a Lazy Daze is like residing in a palace. A tremendous joy to be surrounded by such high quality, ingenuity and craftsmanship.
There are different Lazy Daze models to choose from but the most popular one is the 26.5 MB. It is 26.5 foot long, which is slightly more than 8 meters, and the great thing is that the floor plan has the bath in the centre of the motor home. This offers a living room in the back where travellers are surrounded by three sides having huge windows. There is no other motor home on the market in the USA with this fantastic option. In the front is the kitchen with next to it a comfortable dinette and this gives the feeling of having different rooms. The dining room in the front and after passing through a corridor where is the bathroom entrance we arrive in the living room. The bathroom itself is as big as many in Paris hotels. Spacious and easy to manoeuvre when soaping the body. Great thing is that above the shower space is a dome giving beautiful soft light and avoiding it feels like being in a small space. A huge wall-to-wall mirror above the bathroom counter and sink also obtains this effect.
There are many details in a Lazy Daze which are a pleasant surprise and very useful. Like a switch near the bed-pillows to have a soft floor light midway the motor home when needing to exit the bed at night.
People may think that to drive a 26,5 foot or 8 meters long motor home is a hard thing to do. But not this Lazy Daze. In fact it feels like driving a van. Very smooth. Very easy. Very elegant. This is because of a powerful V10 engine that is surprisingly low on MPG. And because of the power steering and automatic transmission. Helpful is also the backup camera when parking or manoeuvring the motor home into a bay of a trailer park. In the sun visor the flat colorscreen is build and the camera has a wide angle.

For most people it is not an issue at all, to the contrary, but travelling and living in a Lazy Daze is being in the space of someone else. Because somebody else designed the mobile palace. Somebody else decided about the floor plan, the equipment, the colours, etc. It is like moving into a suite of a hotel. Motor home owners have no problem with that: they decorate the interior with their pictures and paraphernalia and make it their own. They completely accept the motor home and feel one with it.
Also, a Lazy Daze comes with all the necessities most people like to have around them. Like an oven, a microwave, a television with antenna on the roof, air conditioning and a powerful generator.

Nevertheless, this Lazy Daze will soon have a new happy owner…

The self-designed Fuso Santek has everything exactly as wanted. Thirty years of experience living in motor homes is bundled into this RV. Floor plan, equipment, colours, choice of materials, etc. Up to the smallest detail it is the result of a deliberate and critical choice. Therefore it becomes a truly personal environment like feeling at home in a self-build house.
Necessities found in a Lazy Daze, but never used in this personal and exceptional case, like the air-conditioning, the generator and the television, are not present in a Fuso Santek.
But there are 4 large batteries and 4 solar panels. An 80-gallon/300-litre fresh water tank and a 26-gallon/100-litre propane tank.
Very large roof vents and a ventilator-free furnace, not available on the US-market, are imported from Europe.
The new Fuso Santek will be similar to this one, build by Renaissance Universal Fabrication Inc.

Very unusual for the USA is the colour of the Fuso Santek. The Princess and her admirer have chosen for Jupiter Green.

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For more information on Lazy Daze motor homes, click on:
http://www.lazydaze.com/
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/lifewithalazydazerv/

For more information on Fuso, click on:
http://www.mitfuso.com/pages/model_fg.html

For more information on Santek, click on:
http://santektrailers.com/trucks.html

For more information on Renaissance Universal Fabrication Inc, click on:
http://www.ruf-inc.com/

Laundry and environment

Yesterday was laundry day. At the Rancho Punta Boca in Mexico is neither running water nor electricity. Therefore laundry is by hand. In a special cement basin made for this purpose under a palm leaves roof. Using a bar of special soap and a hard brush. Drying of the laundry is in the open air in the sunshine. This is an example of a simple life as many people still entertain worldwide. In remote places like Punta Boca del Salado. In a way this simple life style results in less complications. These days many people in Europe and the USA are confused and deeply worried because of seeing the films “An inconvenient truth” and “Our daily bread”. It is a self-confrontation with a life style of which we now must realise it is changing the climate of this Earth. A life style of which a majority of the people never have been wishing to be aware of how food was produced for them. A life style with a deliberately low level of wanting to be aware of the consequences for the future. A life style completely out of balance with nature. A life style purely focused on the personal well being no matter what. The children of the future are going to have a lot to blame to the current generations.
What can be learned from the Gonzales family is that we can live a life more simple and survive and be healthy and be happy. Without consuming a mass of useless goods. By eating simple and healthy what nature directly offers us.
In the end it is a personal choice for the people living in the world of “Our daily bread” and “An inconvenient truth”. Nobody is an innocent victim. Every single person has a responsibility and there is no excuse not accepting this.
Therefore there is no reason to panic or to surrender. Change starts now by scrutinizing its own life style and see it in the context of the planet we live on. Every item purchased, consumed or used must be a deliberate and responsible choice.
This careless way of living must stop.

The change in climate can be very well noticed where the Gonzales family is living. Because the temperature of the ocean water is rising, the annual hurricanes between August and October are more frequent and fierce. The Gonzales who live here for almost a century are in harmony with nature. They know hurricanes. Therefore many of their dwellings are made of natural materials found in the area. These dwellings when a hurricane strikes are blown and washed away but are easily rebuild and replaced. The phenomenon now occurring is that the hurricanes come with much more rainfall than ever before. This is a very good thing for this area. Even until now, what used to be dry riverbeds are small rivers bringing down from the mountains the water that fell as rain in September. The cows of the Gonzales are happily walking in the mountains where they find food to eat and water to drink. In former times they would be near the rancho waiting for the Gonzales to give them food the family had to buy in town.
And nature showing itself here normally as a barren desert landscape is now green and lavish with flowers and butterflies everywhere.

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For more info about the film "An inconvenient truth" click on:
www.climatecrises.net

For more info about the film "Our daily bread" click on:
http://www.ourdailybread.at/jart/projects/utb/website.jart?rel=en

The PS-series 3

We had been making pictures very far away, high up in the mountains, and were driving back in the Landrover over the rough road.
Out there in nowhere we suddenly saw a woman of about 45 years old with a dog on the leash walking down the mountain.
We were surprised to see a woman by herself so far from civilisation and also wondered why her dog was on a leash and not roaming around freely.
We started to have a conversation about women of 45+ years old. Women who have in their life no more man to love and compensate this by having a dog.
We wondered what the social implications were for a 45+ years old woman having a dog.
This conversation went in extensive details and took a long time and after about 20 minutes driving down the mountain, almost returned to the village, we were suddenly shocked by what we saw.
Right in front of us was another woman of about 45 years old with a dog walking up the mountain….

This experience with Isabelle Mège in Cadaques, Spain, on the 17th of June 2002, is a true story.
It shows we cannot trust reality. Reality is not a fixed entity following our idea of logic. When having a high level of awareness, many peculiarities can be noticed in the events happening around us. Often absurd, stunning, surprising, puzzling.
Many people close their eyes for these demonstrations of reality because it is so unsettling.
That is a dangerous thing to do because a mind closed cannot evolve to higher levels of understanding.
While that is essential for the survival of humankind.

In the sequences, the VISTA pictures and now in the PS-series it is exactly about this.
Refusing to accept reality as a stable and unshakable set of known parameters.
2 and 2 is not always 4.
Maybe, sometimes, it is 5.
When having this approach, the most amazing things can be observed.
Contrary to paranormal phenomena, like telekinesis or clairvoyance, in photography it is about the flexibility of perception in real time and real terms.
We see something while we know it is beyond our set of standards for perception.
We see something while knowing it cannot be true and wonder: is it a new version of reality due to a visual awareness too limited?
Is the concept of what is considered true maybe not always applicable?
The imagination, through the PS-series, is upgraded.
The volume of it expanded and made more flexible.
A very good exercise because the brains are taught not to remain in patterns and in limited frames of thinking but to enter the new and unknown.
Especially recommended for politicians.

50 lashes

On the door was written:

“The court for the morality of the people”.

Timidly he opened the door and behind a table three persons were sitting. Two mature but still virile women and a meagre man all dressed in black robes.
He was pushed by a bully behind a small fence opposite from the table.
“Are you this world renowned photographer born in Holland with a Polish father and a half Belgium/half Dutch mother currently residing in Mexico?” the most threatening looking woman asked with a harsh voice.
“Yes, I am “ he replied upholding a posture of dignity.
“Reply with due respect to this court!!!”
“Yes, Madam”.
“You are accused of filibustering and philandering in a most serious manner undermining the morality of the people in a widespread way.”
“I don’t understand why you have those accusations, Madam. I am not aware I did anything wrong.”
“Have you or haven’t you been devoting all your time to your private obsession, what you call yourself “pioneering in photography”?”
“Yes, Madam, this is true”.
“Have you or haven’t you been trying to lure an innocent young woman, you call yourself “The Princess”, into a romantic affaire?”
“This is also true, your Honour”.
“These are acts the morality of the people despise and condemn as anti-social and too extravagant. What do you have to say in your defence?”
“Well, your Honour, not very much as only that I couldn’t have done otherwise. I love photography and have strong feelings for this lady I call “The Princess”.
“Silence!!! No such frivolities in this court!!!! The court will retire and give judgement in half an hour”.

Intermission.

The bully pushed him to his feet: the judges came back into the room and seated themselves again behind the table.
“We have come to an unanimous verdict. You have been demonstrating the worst kind of social behaviour and will be punished with 50 lashes. After this cruel but deserved lashing you will be asked if you will accept a way of living acceptable to the morality of the people. If you insist to have intentions to continue your appalling activities, you will be deported to the unknown. Artoss, give this man 50 lashes and be sure they are hard ones. ”
From a closet, Artoss, the bully, got a mean looking whip, ripped the clothes from the condemned, tied him to a pole and merciless executed the verdict.

“You must realise now how serious your crime has been feeling the pain of the punishment. And we as a court ask you, but only once: are you going to change your ways and become a morality abiding citizen?”
Hardly able to stand on his feet let alone to speak, he whispered: “There is no morality but my own”.
This inflamed the mature but still virile female judge: “Artoss, to the unknown with this man!!!”
The bully grabbed and dragged him to a corner of the room where a rarely used small door was opened. He was thrown in there and fell into what seemed a dark tunnel going downwards, rolling on the floor, unable to stop himself, until eventually he landed somewhere flat on his belly.
He was dizzy and dazed and still in serious pain but looking up he noticed he was in a meadow. The sun was shining. There were flowers and butterflies. Birds were happily singing. It was nice and warm.

In the distance he saw somebody standing. He got to his feet and walked towards the person. When he was close he saw it was The Princess. She looked more beautiful than ever. She opened her arms to welcome him and in one hand she had a rose and in the other hand a camera.

The support supporting

“Could you please give me a hand”, Gumaro asked when on the way to bring fresh goat milk to the Pookey’s.
These days Gumaro is repairing and rebuilding the corrals of his rancho. The pens were he keeps the goats and some of his horses. The deadly hurricane of September 1 has also affected Gumaro’s rancho. Many of his trees lost branches or were uprooted. The roof of his kitchen was blown away. And the dry riverbed, in which his rancho is located, became a wild river destroying everything in its way. The corrals were flooded and partly simply disappeared. Now Gumaro has to dig out the river sand from the corrals and re-build the fences. This is done with natural materials and without machines. All by hand.

Gumaro takes the best of the opportunity; he is an optimistic man and re-builds his corrals in a more sophisticated and improved way. There is a huge tree under which the corral for the goats is located. This tree has suffered a lot of damage but is still alive and will have a chance to continue to grow.
Gumaro's plan was to prop up the low hanging branches of the huge tree with sprags. For this he needed help and also his cousin Esteva was stand-by.

It was a fantastic undertaking because it was truly a team working there and they were deeply enjoying the task. There was no hurry. No worry. No deadline. No stress. No competition. Not one playing the boss or the master. Every member of the team had an input and was appreciated by the others. It was like the three men and the materials were a harmonious unity and that the result came naturally. By itself. Without any forcing or constraining. The logic of everything being in balance.
When the job was done, the support in place, time was taken to admire the result. To see how beautiful and effective it was. And the team members were happy with the job they had performed together. Satisfied with the result. Feeling the accomplishment.

This is a simple story.
Life is beautiful when it is simple.

How to die ?

It was at the deserted beach of Punta Marquez in Mexico, where camping to work on the “PS-series”, that a large sea bass was caught on September 1, 2006 at 14.00 h.
Meanwhile, at an enormous speed, dark clouds were coming from the South. Like a black wall with underneath, just above the horizon, a grey layer of heavy rain falling.
Soon it would reach the encampment and the windows and roof vents of the camper were wide open.
Running with the fishing pole in one hand and the large fish in the other reaching the camper just in time. Quickly the windows were closed, the roof vents and the door. Locked inside now while a tremendous strong wind was shaking the camper and creating huge clouds of dust and sand when heavy rain started to fall.
It was 14.19 hours, the barometer at 1003.6 millibar, 30.4 degrees centigrade and a northeastern wind with a speed of 40 kilometres per hour

There had been reports on the radio that a hurricane was coming to the north. But it was not clear if it would hit the West coast, where Punta Marquez is, or the East coast of Baja California. Hurricanes are extremely dangerous. They come with wind speeds of over 200 kilometres per hour and extremely heavy rainfall causing wreckage, havoc, destruction, inundations and landslides.
Where a hurricane passes, people are killed.

Some days before, the BBC Worldservice and CNN had said that the hurricane would pass on the East coast-side and later it was said that the hurricane would die down in the mountains in Central Baja California.
It seemed to be safe to remain on the West coast at Punta Marquez.
But obviously, unpredictable as the path of a hurricane is, it had come to Punta Marquez.

The night of September 1st to September 2nd. At 03.43 hours. Barometer had dropped to 996.2 millibar. The build-in alarm of the electronic weather centre in the camper, measuring temperature, wind speed, humidity and air pressure started beeping. It meant that the situation was getting very dangerous. The centre of the hurricane was approaching. Better to go and look for shelter and a safer place. But too late. Impossible to get away from the location at Punta Marquez in the middle of the night with the strong wind and heavy rainfall. All dirt roads had become impassable or were simply washed away.
In the meantime, sleeping had become impossible. The wind was blowing now at speeds of over 50 kilometres per hour. The whole camper was dancing on its wheels. It was like sitting in a sailing boat on a rough sea.

Slowly it became dawn while the wind continued to rage with extremely heavy rainfall. The camper began to leak. Outside hardly anything could be seen because the falling water showed like a grey and impenetrable curtain.
Meanwhile there were feelings of fear. How bad would it get? Would the eye of the hurricane, with those winds of 200 kilometres per hour, pass over Punta Marquez?
In that case it would mean a certain death. No way it could be survived. The fear for this was augmented by not knowing what would happen. Would there be a lucky escape and the hurricane calming down or would it get worse and fatal?

It was a horrible feeling. To have to realize that to die might happen in those circumstances. Completely unnecessary. Because if adequate information about the weather could have been obtained beforehand, through Internet, a retreat to a safe place could have been made. Because the camper had no Internet and the radio had not been giving correct information, this deadly trap seemed to be closing.

This ordeal went on for 25 hours. Locked inside the leaking camper, which seemed it would be turned over by the horrendous and violent winds any moment. Thinking it were the last moments of a life that had been until then very fortunate.

During that time the decision was made to return to Punta Marquez only with a camper equipped with satellite-internet.
This is the major reason why the camper that experienced the hurricane is being sold as well as the large motor home purchased last March.
And why now in Riverside, California, a new motor home is being build based on the own designs, equipped with Internet and four-wheel drive.


There is nothing against dying. But a lot against dying in a stupid way.

Some unusual images

Today we have a presentation of the Pookey's.
The two puppies which were found abandoned in the road and who are now happy and healthy doggies.

The PS-series 2

A sincere interview.
Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski interviewed by Marta Serrano Saiz .


Where to start? One feels almost just about to have had a religious experience, a sacred moment where individual, nature and lens join in unison to led a path of visual sensations seeing your work. Is that how you also feel and put yourself in your projects ?

I have neither particular intentions nor ambitions towards the audience. If you feel as you described above, that is your personal perception of my work and has nothing to do with me except me being the trigger and/or inspiration. My attitude in my work is to do only what I feel I must do. There is a strong connection with my inner-voice, my intuition, my emotions, my sincerity and my spirituality and I blindly follow them.
If I learn people respond to my work like you do, I get a sensation of synchronization. That of waters finding their level.

I believe it is very important for you to get first isolated of your surrounding to be able to focus and concentrate in what you are going to be confronted afterwards once you are in front of your subject. Does it work the same way with nature and people?

Because I work from how I feel, from a connection with my intuition, following hints from my soul, I use methods learned from meditation techniques. To turn inwards from which to turn outwards. This is the method both for nature and for people. However, with nature it is a process of reflection: aspects of nature inspiring my creativity. With people it becomes a process of interaction

Is balance the right word to explain the existence of your images ? Balance between you and your subjects, between your inner life and the out coming, between reality and subconscious?

Yes, it is a balance.
And later, it is a balance between the image I made and the perception of the viewer. This is very important to me because for me photography is a medium of communication. Therefore my ambition is always in every case that my images can be understood. I study therefore a lot how people perceive images. How they understand them. How they read them. Balance between two persons can only be achieved in case the land on which they both stand is solid. This solidity is achieved by the quality of the communication aspect of the image.

What does make you chose for certain subjects? Is it your own reality, which feeds you? Your dreams, expectations, if any?

Of course. In fact I use my work as a therapeutic tool. Issues I stumble upon in my life I transform into a subject. Doing the subject gives me the adequate answers to my issue.

How do you think your images will touch the viewer?

Again, I do what I feel I need to do. To have success or not is not an issue. It is not an objective. It is an after-effect of no essential importance to me personally. My life can never be fulfilled if I make myself depended of success.

Dysfunctional body

The Lazy Daze motor home is equipped with XM-satellite radio and this has radio stations like CNN and FOX who spend a majority of their time airing commercials.
Recently a specific radio commercial got much attention because of a voice, obviously in panic, exclaiming that timing was of the uttermost importance. The product brought to our attention was called “Rabbit-Tab”. What had “Rabbit-Tab” to do with the importance of timing?
It might not be known, and the radio-commercial fortunately explains it in detail, but VIAGRA works only after 90 minutes. According to the man talking on the radio this might result in catastrophe. Because timing is essential. Fortunately, “Rabbit-Tab” works already after 20 minutes. It is a tablet the man puts under his tongue, it has a nice taste, and it is indirectly made to understand that within 20 minutes the woman can expect what she, according to the radio-commercial, doesn’t want to wait 90 minutes for.
This blog entertains sometimes absurd and fictional stories but these blog-stories are not far from the reality in which this kind of strange radio-commercial is aired.
Its absurdity is coming from the product. Whether it works within 20 minutes like “Rabbit-Tab” or slower like “Cialis” or “Viagra”, it is a miracle of an invention.
As long as the woman doesn’t mind that the man’s excitement is not aroused by her but by some chemical, they could have a good time. It is therefore recommended that the man puts “Rabbit-Tab” under his tongue without his partner knowing this. Very good for her self-esteem and he can pretend to be Tarzan again. Many men might have had this brilliant idea already.

Soon though we will have “Tear-Tab”. There are situations in which it is appropriate to openly cry with tears and all. Like at the funeral of your neighbour’s dog or of Dick Cheney. It is highly embarassing to have no tears come from the eyes while the whole nation is expecting that. The same lack of a form of physical control, as for which Viagra is a solution, creates a shameful situation. But now there is a solution ! A “Tear-Tab” secretly put under the tongue and people wonder why they didn’t know you were so close to Puffy the dog or to Dick according to the tears which stream from the eyes.

Another revolutionizing product will be “Smell-Tab”. We know all too well friends who happen to have this graveyard odour accompanying their spoken words. They are not Listerine addicts because they are not aware of the damage they are causing to the friendship. Not conscious of the distance we need to keep to them. “Smell-Tab” is to save the friendship by offering a drink in which secretly a tablet of “Smell-Tab” is dissolved and in 20 minutes the graveyard has changed into a flower garden. There is a choice of lavender, roses or jasmine. Good news is that it also works to help farting friends.

Meanwhile for four days now no news and no messages from the Princess and to halt the feelings of fear to have been abandoned or forgotten are no tablets.

Meditation

There are daily activities at Punta Boca del Salado and one of them is meditation.

Human beings have the ability to think but most people live under the domination of it. Most people are unable to be in charge of their thinking and use it simply as a tool only. Like in hectic or difficult situations: the mind spins and spins which is the thinking out of control and dominantly present in a most devastating way.
It is like dogs. They are great animals and wonderful companions but they must know their place. They always try to become the master so that the owner must discipline them and always let them know what is their position in the scheme of things.

For being the master of our thinking we have meditation. To put thinking in its right place and consequently have the freedom to be who we are. It has to be a daily exercise because thinking always looks for opportunities to get on top.
Osho has been a strong influence to turn to meditation and a great teacher to adapt the most adequate way.
See it as sitting in a theatre. Comfortable in a chair. We see the stage. And on this stage our thoughts appear. Instead of being INSIDE those thoughts, we are OUTSIDE those thoughts and simply observe them. We see them come on stage, do their act and retreat between the coulisses.
This is a very helpful, though not easy, exercise. Easily we slip into being INSIDE thoughts. Becoming a passionate participant instead of a neutral observer.
Just try it. Close the eyes for a minute and try to see as on a stage the thoughts coming, being and going.
It is something to learn to do by giving it love and attention and having the discipline to do it daily. Once it becomes effective it has magical results.

Some people use music or sounds to accompany the meditation.
Klaus Wiese, a German composer and musician from Munich, has made wonderful music that could be useful to accompany a meditation.
It is not music as we know, but more sounds of magic allure. Klaus Wiese uses Tibetan Singing Bowls a lot and they are well known for having healing vibrations. There are therapies where Tibetan Singing Bowls are placed next to the body of a person and softly touched with a piece of wood. The sound is in fact vibrations and these merge with the energy field of the person. When there are disturbances in the energy field of the person, the vibrations of the Tibetan Singing Bowls re-adjust them into a more harmonious pattern.

The Dalia Lama has been giving his opinion about meditation:




To many people meditation, chakras, the third eye and energy fields are abracadabra and/or a load of crap.
That opinion is OK. Because it is a personal thing. It concerns nobody else. It is a private choice.

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To learn more about meditation and OSHO, click on:
www.osho.com
To learn more on the Dalai Lama and meditation, click on:
www.dalailama.com
More on the music and sounds of Klaus Wiese, click on:
www.klaus-wiese.com

The PS-series

Many responses received of fervent readers of this blog are desperate calls to see examples of his work.
Especially the recent “PS-series” gets many requests.

Attentive readers have noticed that there is a strategy in the choice of subjects this blog is having. For example, a serious subject like “War and peace” is followed by a rather frivol subject like “Researching phenomenon’s”. A subject on photography is followed about the latest on the puppies and the Princess.

Due to the insisting requests, this strategy is now expanded with the occasional presentation of an image from the “PS-series” and its background story.
The management hopes to quell the threatening uprising with this decision.
For more pioneering photography we have two other websites available.
Links at the end of this blog.

Today this image from the “PS-series” is presented:



The pictures for the “PS-series” were made at Punta Marquez in Mexico during the months of August, September and October of this year.
The composition of the images was done in Nowy Sacz, Poland, late October.
The first public presentation was at Paris Photo in Paris in November 2006.

The “PS-series” was made at the same location where the sequences, the “VISTA-series” and the videos were created. On the West coast of the peninsula called Baja California in Mexico, which is situated south of San Diego, USA. It is a barren and deserted stretch of coast where nobody lives. An endless and wide sandy beach bordered by a desert. Often staying there is made unpleasant by a strong and merciless Northwest wind from the immense Pacific Ocean. It is a place not without danger. Rattlesnakes and scorpions have to be avoided. And hurricanes batter this coast in late summer making it extremely dangerous to be there. As happened this year when a catastrophe and possible death caused by a passing hurricane was only a hair’s-breadth away.
But it is a place where civilisation and progress have not come yet. Where hardly anybody dares to go. One could stay there and not see a human being for 3 weeks. The only company are the pelicans, the seagulls and the coyotes.

This location was discovered in 1979. For 7 years each winter it was visited for long periods of time to make the sequences. Later, many winters were spent to make the "VISTA-series" and the videos. Always this same location Punta Marquez.
The protocol is to go with enough provisions to stay at the location for about 20 days.
Followed by one day and night in town, which is a two hours drive, to purchase new provisions and communicate with home and office. Next, it is another 20 days focused on pioneering in photography. This goes on for 3 to 4 months when it feels it is time to be among people again.
Life at Punta Marquez is as simple as it can get. Light is from solar energy. Bathing is in the ocean. Interesting books to read as entertainment. Limited food. No alcohol. Nothing with sugar. Daily meditation and yoga. Walking and running. A very disciplined life with a strict and rigorous schedule repeated every day for months. All is focused on creating. Making new images. Pushing deeper into the unexplored fields of photography.
This is not an easy life. There has to be an extremely strong motivation to be able to live and work in this way. But it is fascinating, intriguing, challenging and rewarding.
It has always resulted in new work.
And this because being in retreat at Punta Marquez offers the opportunity to have a merciless auto-confrontation resulting in an intensified inner growing process.

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For more photography of Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski, click on:

www.szulc.info
www.themostbeautifulpeople.org

Space tower

In 1895, the Russian visionary Konstantin Tsiolkowsky, presented a plan to build a tower with a height of thousands of kilometres. At the top of this tower a castle was to be build. Because of the centrifugal power of the rotating earth the tower would be kept in an upright position.
Like a stone at the end of a rope being swung around.
In 1895 this idea and plan of Konstantin Tsiolkowsky was considered absurd. The construction material available at the time was steel that was too heavy and not strong enough.
Even in the current time many people will consider Konstantin Tsiolkowsky an idiot and phantast unable to be realistic.
However, in 1991 nanotubes were discovered. Nanotubes are cylindrical carbon molecules that are many times stronger and lighter than steel. With this material cables are being woven with which the plan of Konstantin Tsiolkowsky can be made a reality.
In September 2003, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, a congress was organised where the conclusion was made that we now have the technical abilities to make Konstantin Tsiolkowsky’s plan come true and commercial justifications are there also.
It is expected that in 20 years time, in 2023, this elevator to the sky will have become a reality.

This is a true story and it gives hope.
Pioneering in photography makes the photographer a Konstantin Tsiolkowsky.
Not understood nor recognized during the lifetime.
The belief in the pioneering photography is only coming from the creator. Initiative and motivation as well. It is a lonely affair. The reality is that although he still is very productive only a very few people from the world of art show actively an interest in what is being pioneered.
By now that is taken as a good sign. Photography that suddenly becomes very successful these days, has disappeared completely some years later.
Success and recognition are therefore not objectives. If there would be success, it would be a reason to be very suspicious about the innovative and longer-term qualities of the photography. It might indicate it has only the quality of temporary entertainment.
And recognition is not what feels is needed.
The most recent work, the PS-series, has been museum quality printed by master-printer Peter Paul Huf from Amsterdam. The works are signed and in a limited edition.
But they are not actively promoted. No appointments are made with curators of museums, art-critics or collectors to show the new work. The beautiful PS-series are safely with Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris and the only priority the maker has is to make more and better.
That is the main task. To make as much new work as possible. To penetrate the unknown territories, using creativity, as deep as he can get.
Production is relevant.
Marketing irrelevant.

Konstantin Tsiolkowsky had his fascinating vision in 1895. In 2023 his tower will have been build. 128 years later.
We are now in 2006. You are all cordially invited for his retrospective in the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2134.

****************************************

For more information on Konstantin Tsiolkowsky, click on:
http://www.informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html

For more information on nanotubes, click on:
http://www.pa.msu.edu/cmp/csc/ntproperties/

To contact master-printer Peter-Paul Huf, send e-mail to:
hetlab@tip.nl

Chair crash

The winner of the fierce competition to be invited for dinner as the 1.000th visitor of this blog is:

Mr. Douglas Haynes from Edmonton in Canada.

We congratulate him warmly with his victory.
However, Mr. Haynes in an e-mail wrote: “I have to admit I was logging in often to hit the magic number”.
That is why the jury has decided that Mr. Haynes will have the dinner but that in the restaurant he has to pay for the tip.

Douglas Haynes, the winner, is an artist. A painter. We will all visit Mr. Haynes’ website to get acquainted with his work. The website address is at your service at the bottom of today’s blog.

Mr. Haynes also wrote: “I have been wondering how you come up with something everyday, or how you find the time, but I am glad you do.”.
It is all very simple, really, Mr. Haynes.
The issue of time is a matter of time-management. He schedules his day in a disciplined and structured way. From 8 to 9 every evening he writes the text for his blog. The next morning he re-reads it and makes corrections after which it is published.
How to come up with something every day is a different matter where management is not effective.
It concerns being creative. First there must be an idea on which he elaborates. Having ideas has always been easy for him. Like in his sequences of which a selection can be seen on his website. Each sequence is an idea and not two sequences are having the same idea. This was possible because for him it is simple to have ideas: they come almost automatically to his mind.
His VISTA-series and the new PS-series are made with the same method: each image based on an individual idea.
Most of the time when he sits in front of his MacBook Pro computer at 8 o’clock in the evening, he has no clue at all as to what to write about in the next blog. But always something comes up. And from then on the text makes itself. Even the punch line, or the conclusion, comes natural and is not looked for.
Like now, he doesn’t know how to proceed or what the punch line will be. But it will come into his mind and fingers.

He often has been thinking that this ability to get so many ideas easily is a result of a small accident he had in his childhood.
It must have been when he was about 8 years old. In the house where he was born and growing up, there was a special room where he and his brother and two sisters were supposed to play. One day his brother was sitting in a wooden straight chair and he climbed on top of the back of the chair. Balancing high above his kinship on the narrow ledge of the chair he suddenly realized that in fact he was in great danger. If his brother would stand up, the chair would collapse backwards and he would crash to the floor from a considerable height. Therefore he warned his brother: “Don’t stand up or I will fall !” Now it is different but that time he didn’t get along too well with his brother, and certainly not after that day, because his brother stood up instantly. The chair collapsed backwards and he crashed with his head on the floor. Some hours later he started to notice that his vision had become peculiar. There was a horizon now in the middle of his view and South of it everything was black. He explained this to the nanny, who he could see only to her waist, as well as the accident of that horrendous crash and it was taken so serious that the doctor was called. He was diagnosed as having a concussion of the brain and had to stay in bed in a dark room for a few days. Eventually the missing half of reality returned.
It could be that this concussion of the brain has moved certain clusters of brain cells into a position where they can be super creative and produce unlimited amounts of great ideas.

Himself, the admirers of his work, the history of art, all thank his brother for standing up for him.

*******************************************************

The website of Douglas Haynes: click on http://www.dhaynes.com

For sequences, the VISTA-series and the PS-series: click on http://www.szulc.info

Researching phenomenons

The person who was the 1.000th visitor of this blog visited on December 17th at 15.11 hours. The provider of this person was TELUS.NET
The person who has TELUS.NET as a provider and who was visiting the blog on December 17th at 15.11 hours can announce herself/himself either by a comment underneath this blog or by sending an e-mail to: info@szulc.info
If more than one person announces herself/himself the competition will be cancelled having become compromised. But he doesn’t expect that more than one of his loyal and fervent blogreaders will claim victory.
First price is a dinner with the protagonist of this blog and the lucky winner can indicate if this price will be accepted. If so, further arrangements, like maybe obtaining a visa and an airplane ticket, depending where the winner is living, will need to be made.
Due to the success of this competition, many people logged in, often frequently, eager to win this special price, a new exciting contest is announced.

The 500.000th visitor of this blog will be awarded a car.

Meanwhile strange things are happening where he is now. It is called Punta Boca del Salado and rather far from the civilised world. We could call it the boondocks. There is no electricity here nor running water, telephone nor can mobile phones get a signal. Besides the Gonzales family there are several American persons living nearby in beautiful houses next to the beach. Many of them are his friends. Actually, one incredible house built by an American from Silicone Valley is for sale. For 7.6 million Dollars and people interested are invited to use above e-mail address for more information about this exclusive property.

The strange things happening is not the house for sale, in which the owner has never lived, but when he makes his daily post-siësta walk he sees sometimes constructed on the beach what looks like voodoo-statues. Or pagan altars. In any case, constructions of weird objects maybe used for suspicious rituals. He doesn’t know who makes these scaring and puzzling statues and he tends to believe now that several of his American friends are maybe having some sort of sect with reunions around those totems worshipping the sea or possibly the hamburger.
He plans to do more research about this phenomenon.

Another strange thing happening is that he has a long time friend from the United States who spends part of the year at Punta Boca del Salado as well. He sees the friend rather frequently but each time this man is totally different. At first he never knows who it is until from the conversation he understands it is his long time friend again. It is like the friend has 1000 faces and every meeting a new one. This is very confusing and he plans to do more research about this phenomenon.

Also very strange is that in the evening, when it is very dark, and he walks to his motor home after the visit to the Gonzales family, he looks up to the sky where he can see billions of twinkling stars and even the Galaxy. But contrary to former visits to Punta Boca del Salado, the star constellation called “Orion” is in a totally different place. Somehow it has moved to another place in the sky. It used to be right above his encampment while now someone has put it right above the sea near the horizon. This he finds very strange but he plans to do more research about this phenomenon.

But most strange thing happening is that he noticed that after a conversation with his Princess, the rest of the day he is in an excellent mood and sings and whistles and always looks at the bright side of life. While when the daily conversation has not happened, Princess is a very busy person, he is in not such a good mood at all. He then wonders what those others on the crosses are singing about. Gumaro Gonzales, his long time friend, when sharing the evening dinner, notices immediately him being in a somber mood and unfortunately starts laughing loudly. Gumaro believes it is very funny that his mood depends whether he has been in touch with his Princess or not. That makes him wonder about what is going on but he plans to do more research about this phenomenon.

Hopefully he is available for a new blog tomorrow because it seems he has a lot of research to do.

War and peace

It is very peaceful and harmonious where he is living. Far from the hassle of the big cities. In the gentle countryside near the sea in a wonderful climate.
No crime, never cold, never rain, everything is going by itself.

The first light of day he wakes up and goes fishing. To supply the Gonzales Family with proteins. While catching fish he sees the sun rise from the Sea of Cortez in a cloudless sky and each time he is overjoyed for the new day. Thankful for his existence, for his excellent health, for everything life is giving him.
The mornings he works on his computer and arranges his photography-matters and business on Internet.
In the afternoon he is involved in physical activities and in the evenings he writes his blogs and reads.

Meanwhile he realises that several wars are raging worldwide. One almost secretly in the Darfur region of Sudan. A second one very much in the limelight in Iraq. And one nobody bothers much about between Israel and the Palestinians.
He follows closely the developments of those conflicts listening to news programs and discussions on different radio stations and getting informed through Internet.
He believes we live in a crucial time we will always remember like the Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

“The victor will not be asked afterward whether he told the truth or not. In starting and waging a war it is not right that matters, but victory”

This quote was a statement made by Adolf Hitler on August 24, 1939 just before he was going to attack Poland starting the Second World War.
It was a war he provoked by staging so called Polish attacks on German territory while in fact they were SS-soldiers dressed up in Polish military uniforms.
The people were fooled. Hitler lied about why he started that war. The Dictator was not provoked at all. Hitler organised those provocations himself. The real reason was to want “Lebensraum”. Expansion for the own prosperity.

He found this quote when reading the book “The rise and fall of the Third Reich” by William L. Shirer. (ISBN 0-449-21977-1)
This monumental and fascinating book was published in May 1962 and it is so amazing to read it in this epoch because there are so many stunning similarities.
The above quote is just one of many, many examples.

On the one hand it is extremely scaring to understand that there are strong similarities between our time and what we experience and the recent past when the Nazis were trying to dominate the world.
On the other hand we all know how it ended: millions of deaths, millions traumatized, vast destruction in Europe and Japan, but also the end of Nazism and the Nazi-heads that were found responsible at the Nuremberg tribunal hanged.
Now we witness the decline of a political power that has been operating in devastating ways nationally and internationally.
A majority of the American population has come now to see how they have been brainwashed and manipulated to believe in untruths and experience the degradation of the social and environmental qualities of their society.
A majority is now opposed to the politics of their Administration.
That is a positive and hope giving development.
In the end, the people have always the power.
That is why we are on the cover of TIME magazine tomorrow.

He only regrets that this process takes so much time because meanwhile Iraqi civilians and American soldiers are still dying every day for no good reason as for the effort of politicians to safeguard their prestige.

While the sounds of the waves are gently landing on the beach near his motor home this evening he wishes peace for all of us.

The Pookeys

This blog is equipped with a counter and today or tomorrow we will celebrate 1.000 visits.
The person who will be visitor number 1.000 will be invited by Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski for a dinner, wherever that person lives.
The counter has the option to show who is the provider of the visitor and when the milestone has been reached, this blog will reveal who is the provider of visitor number 1.000 after which the particular person is invited to announce herself. Or himself.

Today, one of the activities was, together with his friend Terry, to put the two puppies in a carton box and transport them to her beautiful house nearby. Already two large buckets of water had been placed in the warm sunshine hours before. Next to it a stack of towels. Both puppies were lovingly washed in the first bucket with shampoo killing the many fleas they were entertaining in their fur. Rinsed in the second bucket and dried with nice, clean towels. In this open-air dog saloon, next, they were powdered with anti-flee powder and put back in the carton box to return to the Gonzales Rancho.
How happy they were to be able to dance and jump around in total freedom again.

Meanwhile, there is some confusion about their names. Terry has come up with the idea to call the black one with the white socks “ Diana Ross“ and the totally black one “Aretha Franklin”.
Later, he has been thinking about these names and he remembered he always had the policy to never give his pets human names. He had a dog, a briard, who listened to the name “Chien”. Which is French for “Dog”. And cats called “Battery”, “Zorro” and “Bambi”.
Until Terry came up with the singer’s names, he has been calling the black one with the white socks “Pookey” and the totally black one “Pookey Too”. Because that is what the puppies informed him their names were.
He feels now he should propose Terry to consider to adopt the names “Pookey” and “Pookey Too” too, because of the puppy’s own idea of having names.


Somehow, these two dogs, which are sisters, have been very impressed by the care and love they have experienced today.
When he went for his daily run, “Pookey” and “Pookey Too” followed him. After not much time “Pookey Too” gave up and returned to the rancho. But “Pookey”, although a young puppy, kept on running and to his utter amazement went all the way. More than 45 minutes running for a puppy at a big man’s athletic speed, now isn’t that an accomplishment of Olympic magnitude?
A car passed by of a friend who shouted: “A puppy is following you!”. Well, he knew that very well. It must have been a hilarious scene: the puppy, really small, running desperately after a large man…
He thought she would give up and that he had to return to get her later somewhere along the road to carry her back home.
But she made it all the way back to the rancho together with him.
He thought she would drop dead of exhaustion. Instead, she started playing with her sister right away.

Insomnia

These days he suffers of insomnia. He goes to bed at about 10.00 p.m. and to fall asleep in a good mood he listens to Comedy USA from XM satellite radio. Often he is laughing the tears in his eyes for what the comedians are saying and this relaxes and makes the mind peaceful. When the punch lines do not reach most of his brain cells anymore, because they have already travelled to the land of the 1000 dreams, he switches off the radio and existence ceases to exist.
He hopes he will sleep until the sun rises from the Sea of Cortez next to his motor home. In order to achieve this objective he has tired himself out during the day. Besides all kinds of physical activities doing little jobs in and around the motor home, he makes a 2-hour beach walk and 45 minutes run every day. In the evening he drinks a Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime caffeine free cup of tea.
But at around 03.00 a.m. he wakes up, ready to start life again. He feels like having breakfast and the urge to start working again. Full of energy in the middle of the night. But outside it is still completely dark and the roosters of the rancho haven’t started waking up the world yet.
What to do?
Sometimes he switches on the radio again to listen to the BBC Worldservice, ABC or NPR but the reports on the war in Iraq make different tears.
So, he prefers to think and of course his favourite subject is photography.
Last night he thought this:

Object or subject. These are two key aspects of photography.
A picture of a person can show an object or a subject.
The person is an object when the photographer has not established a relationship with the person and this can be seen and felt in the result. We, the spectators of the picture, look at a person in an image but cannot get a personal link with that person.
The photographer, who is instrumental to achieve this, has not been able to establish the link.
When the person in the picture is a subject, it is all about that person. We are subjected to that person. This because the photographer opened up for the person to be who the person is and made that person enough comfortable to be in front of the camera without hesitation nor reservation.
The photographer is able to get the person portrayed involved.
A photographer who is able to make pictures of people as subjects has first of all mastered understanding life to a high level. And loves life and loves people.

By the time these thoughts on photography have crystallized he hears the cock crowing and is happy a new day has become available to celebrate the beauty of it.

But why is he suffering of insomnia? One reason is that he has so much energy. In fact 5 hours of sleep will do. Another reason is that he is easily excited about the events in his life. Right now he is in the process of buying a Mitsubishi FUSO FG four-wheel drive truck and designing and having it build into an expedition vehicle. And he is excited and can’t wait for his daily communication with his Princess.

He is hungry to live. Enjoying it so much. Happy to be productive and creative. Why waste time sleeping?

"Solaris" part 2

“Solaris” is a complex movie. Like a house of unconventional architecture with many doors to enter and each person going inside sees something else. Show “Solaris” of Steven Soderbergh to 10 persons and we will hear 10 different interpretations, explanations and opinions.
This makes “Solaris” such an interesting film because it seems that the influence of the planet “Solaris” also is effective on the audience. The film becomes what the spectator imagines. Exactly like Chris Kelvin was imagining his deceased Rheya.

When the crew of the spaceship eventually has figured out a way to destroy the real-life persons appearing from their dreams, an action opposed by Kelvin, they urgently want to return to Earth. They know that the main spaceship “Prometheus” will fall and crash on the planet “Solaris” but they can escape with the smaller spaceship “Athena” with which Kelvin had come.
When they are about to leave, after much inner struggle, Kelvin decides to stay in “Prometheus”. He knows he will probably die but he simply cannot leave Rheya behind. Rheya who he knows doesn’t exist anymore. Who is only a memory now.
Before, his friend Gibarian has told him: “There are no answers. There are only choices”. Kelvin has no idea how Rheya could exist. Even being a psychologist, he cannot find the answer to that question. But he can choose to be with her or not.
The spaceship crashes and Kelvin becomes a clone himself and is reunited with Rheya in the same situation as they were back on Earth. Living together in his apartment. Before they lovingly embrace, Rheya says: “Everything is forgiven”.

In relationships there are projections and expectations. The ideal would be like in “Solaris”. The person dreams the partner to be beautiful, kind and caring and that is how it is. Of course, Rheya was complaining that she was not who she used to be. She was as he dreamed her.
Kelvin made the choice to become like his second Rheya. The person coming from her dreaming.
Kelvin sacrificed himself in order to be with her and have the love between them come back.
That is the forgiving. To forgive the other person to imagine you in another way than you are. Once a couple can forgive, there is acceptance and love can flourish.

Some years ago, Michel Szulc Krzyzanowski was in a large, modern shopping mall in Riverside, California. A friendly man approached him and told they wanted to ask some questions. The request was made with an intensity and conviction making him go with the man without hesitation. They walked together towards a wall and to his amazement they were able to merge, to blend into that wall and come out on the other side. He saw a large room with small tables where people were being interviewed. He was seated at a table and a friendly man came to sit opposite from him. The man explained they were from another planet. And they had come because for them we humans had a capability they didn’t have and couldn’t understand. It was the ability to fall in love and to love. The man asked: “Please explain us this”. He thought about it and replied: “Sorry, but I cannot give you an answer. It is something what happens and why and how we don’t know either”.

There is another reason why the film “Solaris” made by Soderbergh is so fascinating. It is the score. Composed by Cliff Martinez, it is highly hypnotic music. It is music that can also be enjoyed without seeing the movie. While lovingly embracing and forgiving everything.

"Solaris" part 1

He has the possibility to watch movies in his motor home. But he has only two DVD’s with him. One he received as a gift from his Polish friend Magda. An English movie titled “Withnail & I”. Magda is pretty excited about this movie and he finds it also a fine example of English entertainment.
The other film is a different cup of tea. In July 2002 he was working in Toronto, Canada, on his project “World of little heroes” when he went to see a recently released movie called “Solaris”.
He had three reasons to see this new film.
One was that he had read the book “Solaris” by the Polish writer Stanislaw Lem many years ago.
Second was that he found the director of the new “Solaris” film, Steven Soderbergh, always making interesting films.
Third was that he had seen Andre Tarkowski’s film based on the book “Solaris” and wanted to compare.

The “Solaris” film by Soderbergh made a deep impression on him. In Toronto he went to see it three times in four days. And as of then he has a pattern of buying the DVD of this film, seeing it again, giving the DVD to friends and buying a new one soon after. This protocol he has repeated many times.

Last night, in his motor home on his MacBook Pro, he saw “Solaris” again.
It is the story of Chris Kelvin, a psychologist. (Played by George Clooney)
A company, who has an exploring spaceship in outer space, circling around a planet called “Solaris”, needs Kelvin’s help.
The crew is in an erratic state and unable to return to Earth. Kelvin goes to the spaceship to find out what is going on and bring the situation with the crew back to normal.
Kelvin finds in the space ship a bizarre situation that doesn’t make much sense. Until Kelvin goes to sleep. Kelvin dreams of his wife Rheya (played by Natasha McElhone) who has committed suicide years before.
When Kelvin wakes up, Rheya is sitting next to him. Alive and well. In flesh and blood. “Solaris” has the ability to influence human beings in a way that persons from their past, who are dead, appear again and exactly as they were.
This poses a moral problem. Is the human being to accept the clone or not? Initially, Kelvin takes a scientific and rational attitude. Kelvin lures Rheya into a smaller spaceship and sends Rheya off into space thinking the dilemma and problem can be effectively solved in this way.
But soon after, Rheya is back in his reality not having memories and not understanding why she is there.
Kelvin then realizes he still loves her.
Rheya committed suicide after Kelvin rejected her when she had, without asking him, aborted their child. Kelvin left the house while Rheya was pleading desperately that she couldn’t live without him.
Kelvin did come back that night, having come to his senses, but it was too late. Rheya had taken an overdose and was dead with in her hands a text: a poem by Dylan Thomas “And death has no dominion”.
Now that Rheya was back in Kelvin’s life, although as a clone, Kelvin wanted to make good what he had been doing so fatally wrong before.
Eventually the issue in the film becomes whether Kelvin should return to Earth and leave Rheya and his love for her behind, or stay not knowing what will happen except that it would be a choice for Rheya and their love. The most absolute choice.
The choice between the rational or the emotional. A choice for love or a rejection of it. A choice to return to the known or to enter the unknown.
What did Kelvin do?
This we will read in tomorrow’s blog.

The Tree part 3

If it has become a matter of creating an event to reach successfully and relevantly with photography a larger audience, it is vital to have a subject for the event that touches deeply.
In this he has been rather successful. He seems to have the virtue to feel what is on the mind of many people, what touches them and what is brooding among the general public.
There is the example of his project “World of energy”, from the year 2000, which was showing how in 20 different countries worldwide in 20 families a form of energy was produced and consumed. This project was widely published and exhibited and even these days, pictures from the project are still published. Since 2000, energy became a very important issue and topic.
Another example is his project “World of little heroes” from 2004, where two same aged girls of 9, being both physically challenged but living in very different places, Samantha in Canada and Hasina in Bangladesh, were compared in their lives. This project was also published worldwide and presented as an exhibition at “Visa pour l’image” at Perpignan, France, the most important photo festival for photojournalism.
Although his most recent project “The most beautiful people in the world” is not completed yet, it has been published and exhibited worldwide already and requests for publications keep coming in.

Why is he convinced that a solitary tree in a landscape will excite a large audience? Why does he believe that many people will figuratively come to the tree? Gather around it. Wishing to share the experience, add their part to it and absorb all together more well-being?
As his other activities in photography, like the recent PS-series, he doesn’t think so much rationally about his initiatives, plans and ideas.
It is more a matter of taking initiatives and decisions based on instinct. What he feels he should do. Without immediately having a rational and convincing explanation for it.
He does make though an enormous effort to be alert and informed about the public. And about what is going on in the world. Knowing that this is part of the breeding grounds from which his plans and ideas come.

However, he never is much concerned about predictions about whether his projects will be successful or not. Like now, he has this strong feeling he must do this project “The Tree” and he even doesn’t know why exactly….
It feels like it has been gently put inside him and now he is responding to this gift by kindly performing it.
There have been artists who have been saying that they came to know that they were not more than transmitters.
Receiving something and next distributing it.
This explanation, how grotesque maybe, appeals to him.
And he is not very interested to know who needs people like him to transmit their messages.
Because no adequate and convincing answer can be found to this question.
He believes not everything should be questioned: there are several fundamental issues in our lives which are screaming to be answered and we may decide that we are just not ready to find and understand an answer yet.
But what he does believe is that he has an obligation to be available as a transmitter. Not to get diverted by unrelated activities. Therefore he never goes on holidays. Therefore he has no hobbies. Nor is he doing senseless activities. He is 100 % focused on receiving and transmitting. Everything in his life what he undertakes has as a function to be as optimally available as a transmitter as possible. This is also why he lives as healthy as possible having a strict regime of food intake, physical exercises and meditation.
Being the go-between. That is his duty. His obligation. That is why he lives.

He has been deeply influenced by Doris Lessing’s books. The Canopus in Argos: Archives-series.
Particularly the books:
“Shikasta” (1979. ISBN 0-224-01767-5),
“The Sirian Experiments” ( 1980 ISBN 0-224-01891-4),
“The marriages between zones three, four and five” (1980 ISBN 0-224-01490-X)
“The making of the representative for Planet 8” ( 1982 ISBN 0-224-02008-0).
Books rather unknown and obscure while extremely fundamental to understand our lives. Understand our past and future.

To understand the background and birthplace of the project “The Tree” one should read those books.
While in the meantime enjoying the thrill “The Tree” is already giving.

Updates

A blog results not only in loyal readers posting comments, but also concerned readers sending e-mail messages.
Today’s blog therefore is devoted to updating on subjects of blogs from the recent past.

The two puppies.
They are doing relatively well. Each day they get food but it turns out that even special puppy’s dog-food is too early for them. He goes to Ketcha each day and makes her give him about a litre of fresh milk and this the puppies love to drink. They drink and drink until their bellies are round like a tennis ball. They have taken domicile under a low table on Alfredo’s porch where they feel safe. When he comes to care for them, they appear and are very happy. This not just for the food they are going to get, but he caresses and cuddles them and they having no more mother too early, drown in his love for them. However, they are entertaining a colony of flees on their body and this is no good. Tomorrow he goes to town with his friend Tery and they will hunt for an anti-flee cure for puppies.
Meanwhile, the Gonzales are getting used to have the two puppies around. Their original objection is changing now into amusement with his involvement in the puppies and this they respect and step-by-step they get into accepting the two new members of the community.

The Tree project.
He had this idea for quite some time. But was hesitant to embrace it fully to come out with it into the open. He did, by debuting it on this very blog, and he has to realise by doing so, that the project has actually started. Several loyal blog-readers responded and all very positive. A tree and the focus on it trigger something. He has the feeling now it is a good idea. An idea which was presented here and which we will see grow up. To develop in unimaginable dimensions.

Gorba, the goat killer and aggressor of American ladies.
This dog is still tied with a chain to a tree. It is simply impossible to let Gorba loose. This dog will attack and kill goats again. And he has no more confidence in the dog after he attacked friend Mimi. But Gorba manages to break his heart every day. When he passes by the tree to which Gorba is chained at the end of the day to have dinner with the Gonzales, Gorba starts to bark in a way loaded with desperation, sadness and grief. It makes him feel so bad. This emotional barking is worse than a child crying and he hates to be so sentimental. During the night he wakes up because of Gorba barking in long, sad monologues, protesting his confinement. But what can he do? One day he took Gorba off the tree and tied him up to his motor home. Gorba very happy. Until Gorba saw somebody walking on the beach who happened to be Mimi. Gorba started aggressively and violently barking and he could see how Mimi got afraid, turned around and hurried back home. Gorba back to the tree…
Being chained up is not good for Gorba’s mental state. Gorba is becoming a worse dog than he was. But what to do? He is unable to find a better solution. In the end, it is Gorba who started to entertain this new hobby of killing goats…

The Princess.
She called him. And made him see he has been very wrong in his attitude towards her. He apologised to her and promised not to have central and foremost anymore his expectations towards her. To accept her who she is with her reality of living and working.
It was a very impressive communication. He couldn’t believe it was he saying the things he said to her.
She is such a powerful and exceptional woman.
Now all this nonsense of saying that butterflies were leaving his belly bottom is down the drain. He is in a lot of self-trouble again. It is beyond logic and beyond being rational and being in control. Not only are the butterflies back in his belly but also there are vicious bears and venomous snakes as well.
He is not very good in handling this menagerie but the Princess is a sweet and fabulous educator.

The Tree part 2

As a pioneering and innovative autonomous photographer questions are asked constantly about the medium. Of what a picture should be made? How should that picture be presented? Can a non-journalistic picture still interest and move people?

For some time now he believes that conceptual photography has to be an event.
Not just one or more pictures but images embedded in a set of activities linked to a relevant issue in society.

His project “The most beautiful people in the world” is a good example of his holistic theory.
The subject is relevant. Because of materialism, globalism and hedonism people are loosing traditional values and social skills. They acquire material wealth but become socially and humanly poor. His project “The most beautiful people in the world” confronts the audience with sincerity, solidarity, caring and other aspects of inside beauty many people had forgotten about.
His project “The most beautiful people in the world” is happening on different levels. First of all there is the announcement in the newspapers that makes people ask them if they are beautiful and what it means.
Second, there is the event that takes place in the homes of the persons who made themselves candidates.
Third, there is the press which each time got curious about his project “The most beautiful people in the world”: they would write about it in newspapers, magazines and on websites and devote radio and TV programs to it.
Fourth, magazines would publish the results of this project and exhibitions were organised.
Conclusion is that a lot is happening with this project. And some of it happens without that people actually see the images.
The purpose of the project is to promote in society a discussion. To initiate new thinking. To influence a certain development.

Paradoxically, the focus is not immediately on the photography anymore when creating a new photo-project. It is much more researching and imagining and predicting what the audience is or shall be occupied with and what is the best way to reach them.

Most people don’t live anymore in a reality where visual consumption is by tradition and proxy photography. They are informed and entertained in other ways. The brains are conditioned now to see news flashes of a few seconds consisting of moving images with sound. Entertainment is also quick, superficial and not photography.
It has become a challenge to have the ambition with photography to propagate a relevant issue.
And an even more important challenge to find ways to reach the audience.

How the new project “The Tree” fits in all this, loyal bloggers will read in “The Tree part 3”.

Why not cry ?

In the small coastal village of Palafrugell, at the Spanish Costa Brava, is an impressive house build in the 1920’s by a Russian Baroness. It overlooks the Mediterranean and is surrounded by beautiful gardens. Down the steep slopes to the sea an elegant staircase is build from coloured bricks leading to a small beach.
He has been visiting this magical place in the year 2000 with Mayumi Nakazaki, his wife at the time.
Last night in a dream he saw a film that consisted of one scene only. Those stairs on which we could see the legs and boots of a person descending. He was surprised! He recognised those stairs! He had been there! Together with Mayumi Nakazaki.
This made him remember the days he was married. And he started to cry.
Cry. Cry.Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry. Cry….
Not for Mayumi though. But for the memory of togetherness with a special person. For the memory of having love in life.

The Tree part 1

In May 2004 he started in Sao Paolo, Brazil, to work on his project

“The most beautiful people in the world”.

He published announcements in newspapers asking people believing to be the most beautiful in the world, to respond to be documented. Until now he has performed this project in 8 different countries and it is very successful.
Check:

http://www.themostbeautifulpeople.org

(And come back here)

The planning is to do the last two countries in the coming months and the book, published by Delpire Editions from Paris, France, should be available in Autumn 2007.

Meanwhile he is masterminding the follow up to the project “The most beautiful people in the world”. And he has an idea which he is presenting openly now for the first time.
It is simply called

“The Tree”.

For this new project he is going to look and find a tree, which is at some remote place standing all alone in an empty landscape somewhere in the United States or Mexico.
He will install himself and his expedition vehicle next to this tree. With him he has sufficient supplies to stay with the tree for periods up to one month.
The project involves reporting about this tree in different ways.
Like his work made on a deserted beach where nothing was happening either, basically there is not much to report on a solitary tree somewhere in an empty landscape.
The tree therefore serves as a catalyst. An initiator. An inspiration. An alibi. A paradox. A metaphor. To centralize. To channel. To trigger.
The tree is to become a media event. Being there for as many people as possible in as many possible ways.
One of the ways is to have a web cam showing the tree permanently through Internet worldwide.
Other ways might be:

• texts published in a blog inspired by the tree: “The tree speaks!” Afterwards to be collected to publish as a book.
• reporting life on the Internet and with photography, for future exhibitions and publications, on possible events happening with the tree: a strong wind bending its branches, the way light falls on the tree, its position in the landscape, etc
• there might be people passing by and they will be integrated in the media event.
• people might learn of the project “The Tree” and decide to come to the tree also to have their creative input and output.

This project is scheduled to take place over a longer period of time. Maybe 6 months or more. This is one of the important considerations to purchase the self-designed and custom build expedition vehicle. To be able to go to a location not easily accessible and to be able to stay in one place for about a month. Therefore the Mitsubishi Fuso expedition-vehicle will be equipped with a water tank of 250 litres, 55 litres of propane, 4 x 100 watt Siemens solar panels, a large refrigerator with a freezer and of course the Datastorm Satellite Internet System.

Tomorrow, he will explain more about the thinking behind this project.

Cute puppies

He has a brother. And one of the things he shares with his brother is his zest for running.

Every day, when the afternoon has found its end and the evening is announcing itself, he does his Yoga and Pilates exercises after which he runs for approximately 45 minutes. This on the unpaved and hilly road, which leads from the rancho to the town of San Jose del Cabo, but that is 2 hours by car.
It is a tough run because the road goes up and down breaking a steady running-rhythm. And the knees get a hard time running off a slope. Last year he was running every day a little more until he reached more than one hour. That was fine except that he developed blisters on his toes. He understands that this was his body sending a message that it was a little too much what he was so ambitiously doing. So now he limits the time of running to 45 minutes daily which is hard for him to accept but he likes not having blisters.
But only 45 minutes… now he cannot depose off all his energy effectively.

Today was another run to be made and when he was about 20 minutes away from the rancho he saw two puppies lost in the road. Two cute black doggies. Obviously dumped by someone who wanted to get rid of them. They were scared of the running man and escaped to the side of the road and while he continued his run, he was thinking what a fucking asshole that was who had just thrown these dogs from the car. It was getting dark quickly and the puppies would not survive the night. The coyotes would find the doggies and feast on them. That was a horrifying thought. And he, being the last one before dark to see them, had now the key in his hands opening the door for the puppies to die or to live. He could ignore them and just concentrate on his running thinking it was all not of his business. If the people here wished to do it this way, they could have it. Or he could care for the animals and bring them to the safety of the rancho no matter what were the local traditions or what the Gonzales would think of it.
On his way back the puppies had moved to the middle of the road and demonstrated how to show being completely lost.
He stopped his running and he hates deeply to do that.
First he talked to the dogs. Asked them what had happened. How they got there. They looked at him attentively and accepted without any protest to be taken in his arms. A long walk back to the rancho where he carefully landed them on the porch of Alfredo’s house who was of course not there.
Yesterday he had brought from town a bag with 25 kilos of dog food and gave a portion to the newcomers. Fortunately they were old enough to be able to eat ordinary dog food. They were thirsty as well.

Now he doesn’t know what is going to happen. How will the Gonzales handle this situation?
During dinner he told what had happened. Gumaro seemed not to be too happy with two more dogs around. Ketcha mentioned her goats as if the puppies would attack them soon.

Would his brother also have picked up the puppies to save them from eaten alive by coyotes?