Ir-responsible Journalism...

Supertopo.com has had a pretty interesting thread recently about responsible journalism regarding treatment of rock climbing and its legality on the Navajo Reservation sparked by the current issue of Rock and Ice Magazine...  I posted my short article at SuperTopo I wrote some three years ago for Climbing Magazine on the same topic... Really good dialogue happening, getting a lot of climbers thinking critically about their actions and its effects on cultures outside our own... 

My stance is still the same. I have not climbed on the Reservation, nor do I plan to...

Perpetually Leaving...

Difficult equation to live. The more I am inside, the more I want to be outside... The more I shoot photos outside, the more time I need to spend inside with my quarry. A strange flip-flop between two distinct worlds. Consuming.

Need to forever be enjoying the unfolding eternal moment - But the batteries recharge away from all the outlets and beyond the squinting haze of screen and keyboard strokes while hidden inside walls. I need to wander new trails in ancient forests, climb cracks in desert sunshine, call the sky my roof again...

I often feel I am perpetually leaving... Never quite sitting still, a move or two ahead at least in thought. In the moment yet outside of it and transiting to the next...

One day perhaps I will find the comfort, contentment, joy in the act of being anchored... Maybe.

Boulder Lockdown...

Snow, ice, -25 temps with the windchill... Dreaming of desert towers, t shirt weather and spring time sojourns with old friends as I look at the pile of lonely trad gear on the closet floor... Difficult for a Southern California kid to count the hours away while in the deep-freeze, awaiting warmer climes and climbs.

From my home office I have been firing up my traveling armchair across India to Kathmandu, Iran, and Turkey as I archive 2000 slides from a bygone era... The travel bug is infecting me deeply...

Devi then added fuel to my nomadic fire by preparing haemul pajeon - its a Korean seafood pancake but I think the direct translation is "awesome".

Carol and Shambu

One evening last week, as the snowstorm was about to descend, I spent some time with Carol and her horse Shambu. They are my neighbors. We all share the same magical piece of real estate in the shadow of the Rockies.

There is bond that is forged between horse and owner that I was aware of on a cerebral level - with Carol and Shambu it is undeniable. I hope to get to photograph with them again to try to capture a better sense of it...

Perspective. Acuity. Sight.

Perspective. Acuity. Sight. 

How does each of us see - The same? Are we monochromatic with our vision in deference to each other? What slivers of the "visible" spectrum might I be missing? What are the details a visual artist insists I see? This strange game of addition and subtraction with electrons... this flow of static dimension.

It is always fun to shoot with other photographers - to get a glimpse of how they "see".

Put yourself behind the lens with Candace by clicking here.

Place yourself inside the eye of Devi by clicking here.

The Morning Sun

Days and weather changing,
Erratics of thought and purpose
Shifted and shaped
Beneath the puzzle of new handholds.

Moving upward -
A synergy from shattered focus.
Reflective, fluid and reforged.

The shadow of fears
Burned and blown away,
The morning sun, the slashing wind.
Welcome companions, at the edge.

Photo Shoot at Lizard's Mouth...

 A good morning and a great combination... A few hours spent with an old friend - an amazing climber, model and inspiring image maker... Thank you Tamara! www.tamarahastie.com