My World: Meditation

[Chris Calohan]

A Meditative Moment: Chris Calohan​

 

[Tom dinning]

Chairs on a spoon, with parsley.
Possibly some fat bums recently sat on two of the chairs. Not a good idea to leave a purse unattached in a public place. That is a bible, is it not? Who is she trying to impress?

 

[Chris Calohan]

Well, Tom certainly not you. What kind of an effing twit remark was this supposed to be? I did ask you nicely, and will again; please don't comment on my work. You nauseate me. What you have your parents to thank for is they didn't drown you as a pup. Truthfully, surrounded by water, it's a wonder you haven't drown yourself.

 

[Asher Kelman]

A Meditative Moment: Chris Calohan​

Chris,

I do like the spoon idea a challenging symbol.

I did not realize that the person was reading a bible. However, I did recognize "the observer from above" feeling, as if we're in heaven looking down.

I'd have thought of a mediative moment, without the bible and was wondering why he /she didn't have their feet up on the table!

Asher

 

[Tom dinning]

Is it something I said, Chris? I simply looked at the photo and wrote the first thoughts that came to me. Which part of it is nauseating? Why I might be offended myself somewhat. You present a picture in a forum and I responded. Does everyone who's thoughts differ from yours make you feel like vomiting? Man, it must be tough out there for you.
As for your request not to comment, I decline. Ill comment on whatever I want.
Sorry to hear you wish me dead. I'm not going to oblige if you don't mind. My parents thought the world of me.

 

[Chris Calohan]

Does everyone who's thoughts differ from yours make you feel like vomiting?

No, Tom, just yours. Your taking up breathing space is of no interest to me one way or the other, it was just a funny thought spoken aloud.

 

[nicolas claris]

Chris,

I do like the spoon idea a challenging symbol.

…

I thought it is a fish… (with a great eye)…
I bet for a woman ('cause the bag on the table ; )

Nice shot.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Well, Tom certainly not you. What kind of an effing twit remark was this supposed to be? I did ask you nicely, and will again; please don't comment on my work. You nauseate me. What you have your parents to thank for is they didn't drown you as a pup. Truthfully, surrounded by water, it's a wonder you haven't drown yourself.

Hi Asher, Nicolas,

Since when do we allow such insulting posts, attacking others on OPF? There has to be a consequence to this.

 

[Tom dinning]

Hi Asher, Nicolas,

Since when do we allow such insulting posts, attacking others on OPF? There has to be a consequence to this.

There is a consequence, Cem.
Chris is pissed off and I'm laughing.
Chris is free to post what he likes. I'm not offended in any way. He seems to be a reasonable sort of person, judging by his comments. I'm happy to be hated by such a person, even if he makes his judgements on what he has read so far. I think it's very open minded of him to consider me in such a way.
Don't you think?

 

[Tom dinning]

Chris,

I do like the spoon idea a challenging symbol.

I did not realize that the person was reading a bible. However, I did recognize "the observer from above" feeling, as if we're in heaven looking down.

I'd have thought of a mediative moment, without the bible and was wondering why he /she didn't have their feet up on the table!

Asher

My continuing thoughts on the photo went along those lines as well, Asher. I do get the feeling that people who read the bible out in the open, so to speak, are doing so to impress; either the passing public so they might see the individual as a pious and righteous person or their god (looking down as you suggest). A sort of " look at me, I'm a good person reading your desciple's words".
I do the same thing with Barthe's Camera Lucida, although I'm the first to admit I don't get it all.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

There is a consequence, Cem.
Chris is pissed off and I'm laughing.
Chris is free to post what he likes. I'm not offended in any way. He seems to be a reasonable sort of person, judging by his comments. I'm happy to be hated by such a person, even if he makes his judgements on what he has read so far. I think it's very open minded of him to consider me in such a way.
Don't you think?

This has nothing to do with you as a person and neither with whether you were offended or not. The nature of Chris' post is that it openly attacks another OPF member. The freedom of speech does not mean that we are allowed to write hate posts about others, wishing them dead. It's about the principles by which we want to behave here.

 

[Chris Calohan]

So, Cem, it is okay to insult another's work with inane comments he openly knew would draw ire as we've had issues in the past, but not okay for me to wonder as to how he survived so long? I am appalled that you can see them as two different issues when in reality, they are one in the same.

Go back and reread the sentences. I never once wished him dead. I merely wondered, granted aloud, that either he or someone else had not intervened at some point and ensured the rest of humanity might reside in a more peaceful place had he not been allowed to continue taking up air space. I also reiterated that frankly I didn't care one way or the other to his continued state of being.

Insult, whether making a rude comment or being direct as to someone's right to life are world's apart in some eyes, or next to each other sitting side by side, said Cain to Able.

I was extremely polite in our last altercation that he not make further comment on my work. He chose as he is directed by his own hateful ways to ignore my request. To me, that changed the playing field. If Asher chooses that I be banned, it would indeed only be fair that Tom also be banned as well.

If anyone has noticed, I have not made one comment toward Tom's work since said time. Hmmmmmmmmm, I wasn't looking for a fight, but Tom was doing his best to ensure one took place. Me thinks your eyes are looking at the wrong culprit, Cem.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

So, Cem, it is okay to insult another's work with inane comments he openly knew would draw ire as we've had issues in the past, but not okay for me to wonder as to how he survived so long? I am appalled that you can see them as two different issues when in reality, they are one in the same.

Go back and reread the sentences. I never once wished him dead. I merely wondered, granted aloud, that either he or someone else had not intervened at some point and ensured the rest of humanity might reside in a more peaceful place had he not been allowed to continue taking up air space. I also reiterated that frankly I didn't care one way or the other to his continued state of being.

Insult, whether making a rude comment or being direct as to someone's right to life are world's apart in some eyes, or next to each other sitting side by side, said Cain to Able.

I was extremely polite in our last altercation that he not make further comment on my work. He chose as he is directed by his own hateful ways to ignore my request. To me, that changed the playing field. If Asher chooses that I be banned, it would indeed only be fair that Tom also be banned as well.

If anyone has noticed, I have not made one comment toward Tom's work since said time. Hmmmmmmmmm, I wasn't looking for a fight, but Tom was doing his best to ensure one took place. Me thinks your eyes are looking at the wrong culprit, Cem.

Thanks for your civil response Chris, appreciated. When I said that there must be consequences, I was referring to similar situations in the past where the moderators have moderated between the parties to restore the peace and sometimes the offending comments were removed (including mine). This has happened to me on some occasions too, so I know the routine by now. I wasn't insinuating banning at all, we don't ban that easily in OPF.

I realize that you did not wish him dead literally. But then we are discussing semantics and are into the lawyers' territory. If you weren't thinking about the possibility of Tom being dead so that he couldn't bug you, why then did you write what you wrote? I personally never write about the wellbeing of others in such terms even if they aggravate me to the nth degree. It is just a matter of style I guess.

Regarding what Tom wrote about your photo, I thought that it was an honest and considered view of his and it wasn't written to mock you. He has described what he sees in the picture rather well. We see the impressions left behind on two chairs. The plant resembles a piece of parsley on a spoon indeed. Not that I would have had that association at first myself but I can see it now that I've read it. Now if somebody else would describe these things as what the photo makes him/her think, would you react to him/her the same way as you did to Tom? If not, then you are being let down by your emotions I would say.

 

[Chris Calohan]

Cem, I appreciate your concern. I did not nor have I ever wished ill being to Tom or anyone else...though I voiced a thought that may be construed as such.

If Asher wishes to removed my comments or my entire post, I will still sleep comfortably tonight. Would I have reacted the same to someone else's comments the same as I reacted to Tom's? Not likely. I reacted to Tom because I have asked him nicely not to comment on my work. If he wanted to make a positive or even negative response in a manner which would show civility, he only needed to start with, something like this, "Interesting, to me it appears .....for him to speculate that her reading a Bible was pretentious, fell way outside the bounds of my control. I merely recorded a setting, which is a meditation room at the hospital where my grandson was born. By doing so, it gave a sour note to the setting. He wanted a conversation about reading a Bible in a public place and my image was to be damned as a result ...sorry, but I will not, and cannot abide by this deliberate derision on his part.

I never saw the relationship to parsley and a spoon, I was far more observant that it appeared two others recently sat there and left impressions of their own and how fleeting a moment in time can be. that there was good patterning in the tile work, the lighting was easy and her pose so directed was what I saw.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Chris,

I'm glad to hear that you were not voicing ill wishes on anybody. Sometimes we need an explicit clarification of what's meant. As far as I'm concerned, we can now leave that discussion behind us. II understand the unfortunate link to the hospital where Bennett is born, I'm sorry about that.

On another note, this is one of the first pictures you've taken with your 16-35 lens on the D800, isn't it? So how does it fare in your opinion?

 

[Chris Calohan]

I like this lens, Cem. There's a very deliberate response in its motor and coupled with the D800, it's a dream machine. I do find the distortion factor at 16mm to be a bit challenging, but feel like it's just going to be a matter of getting a feel for what distances and subjects it will handle best at this range.

I still find I want a little more range and may go back and get the 24-70 or the 28-300, thus removing the need for the 24-70 and the 70-200. Decisions, decisions. I will post another I took with this lens at a restaurant in a few minutes so you can see more of the range of this camera.

 

[Jerome Marot]

For what it is worth, I would like to point out that I have never seen anyone reading a Bible in public in my life (outside of a church, that is). I suppose that our perception of such a scene depends on where we live: we will find it surprising if we are not used to see people reading religious text in public and may not even consciously notice it if this is an activity that happens frequently.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I thought it is a fish… (with a great eye)…
I bet for a woman ('cause the bag on the table ; )

Nice shot.

Well, not in West Hollywood! This would be a normal fellow a few miles from me right now!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Asher, Nicolas,

Since when do we allow such insulting posts, attacking others on OPF? There has to be a consequence to this.

Cem,

Under most circumstances, we'd act fast, as we don't want folk damaged by the OPF experience! My first worry was that Chris was being demeaned for valuing a bible and I was mistaken in even considering that. But I wasn't asleep at the wheel. Just because one holds a big gun, doesn't mean one has to pull the trigger for each roar of a tiger! I just changed my working metaphor to pirate ships!

I took this as ballast for Tom Dinning's quick moving galleon firing off rounds of impulsive canon towards Chris' well composed picture! I'm not at all concerned about any insults here as it was not directed at the bible or Chris or offending folks with faith, but rather about the person "showing it off" publicly.

Chris' choice of he word, "Meditation", an entirely private experience, is applied to a public display of affinity to the book, hardly the same. So it's a critical description, perhaps a tad of sarcasm, but certainly encouraging us to explore the photograph from our own separate viewpoints, each of us with different filters concerning religion and"holy" books.

I've no worry about anything here being an insult to Tom as he's well prepared for such onslaught with, I believe two), Teflon™ coated cobalt-steel korodani, enclosed in a sack of Kevlar™!

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Thanks Asher. As you can read in the ensuing conversation between Chris and me, we have settled this issue now. So no further action is necessary.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks Asher. As you can read in the ensuing conversation between Chris and me, we have settled this issue now. So no further action is necessary.

Well then, Cem, isn't it marvelous, that in my advancing age, my impulses on such matters has become a little more moderated! I have to conserve whatever impulsivity I have left for my photographic passion!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

A Meditative Moment: Chris Calohan​

Chris,

Now we've gotten the social implications dealt with, let's go back to this picture itself. I like the view from above as it shows us the person now as just another element in a well chosen composition.

But what about the invading tree? I happen to be a non factive photographer outside of clinical practice. That means I've no conscience about removing distracting elements. Here did you ever consider that one could simplify, removing the tree and having a more stark, zen-like mood.

Asher

 

[Jerome Marot]

Here did you ever consider that one could simplify, removing the tree and having a more stark, zen-like mood.

In my opinion, framing to remove the tree would not work, as the tree is essential to balance the shape of the spoon in that corner. Removing the bit of pink floor on the top left is possible, but not essential.

 

[nicolas claris]

Ceci n'est pas un poisson.

Link​

 

[Asher Kelman]

Here did you ever consider that one could simplify, removing the tree and having a more stark, zen-like mood.

A Meditative Moment: Chris Calohan​

In my opinion, framing to remove the tree would not work, as the tree is essential to balance the shape of the spoon in that corner. Removing the bit of pink floor on the top left is possible, but not essential.

Jerome,

Yes, that leaner cut does work better and the tree remaining adds balance. That cut of the pink above removed distraction. I never thought of doing so little. It's a major improvement for my eyes.

Still, even larger emptiness might provide more contextual support for "mediation".

Asher

 

[Tom dinning]

And while I sleep, I dream of you.....

I'm going to stay awake tonight, I don't want to miss anything.
I'm so glad all that has been sorted. I might have contributed in some way but I was dreaming of , well, that's or me to know.

To be quite honest, Chris, I didn't even look at who's photo is was. I'm not here to please or displease you. I'm here for my own reasons, as you are.
The contents are bounded by the frame which you choose. The experience for me is unlimited, bounded only by my experiences and imagination. Tell me where, in this frame, I can see what you see, that it is a hospital in which your grandson was born or any connection you might have to the bible or the person or the place.
I'm happy not to comment on your pictures but how does that stop me from having those thoughts?
You know, I don't even know why I'm having this conversation?

 

[Doug Kerr]

Is it possible that she is reading the miniature, india paper edition of the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics?

Of course, we rarely see those in zipper study cases.

I actually have a case just like that (with a monitor receiver in it).

Best regards,

Doug