April is National Poetry Month

COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPT. 3, 1802
by William Wordsworth

EARTH has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!


One of my favorite poems is “Composed Upon Westminster Bridge” by William Wordsworth. I like it because I am photographer and the poem to me is like a great photograph. A moment captured that flows into your imagination like a river. Once read or “seen” it colors your world forever. I read the poem in college. I have never seen a sunrise since that didn’t evoke the heartbeat rhythm of this sonnet. This photo that I took here in Newburyport is one of those moments for me.

John

Mabel's hairdo

Okay, I know I posted some photos of Mabel and Abraham yesterday, but I just couldn't resist these two, I mean come on, is her hair just too adorable or what? Also,if you look closely the two of them are sitting the exact same way!

Meet Abraham and Mabel

Meet Mabel and Abraham, twins!! These two cuties are the children of my wonderful friends Claudia and Ethan. Lucky me, I got to spend some time with them yesterday. Let me tell you crawling does not slow these two down, they were moving at pretty much lightening speed around the house. They also have a wonderful doggie named Otis, I promise to post some pooch photos soon.

Janie

"Art, not just photography, is our inspiration." David Williams

Jane and I have had the great fortune of taking one of David William's seminars. David is one of Australia's (and the world's) great fine art wedding and portrait photographers. David Williams inspires through his great love and knowledge of art and his absolutely irreverent humor. One of his favorite painters is John Singer Sargent. We are very fortunate in the Boston area to have access to so many of Sargent's paintings. I am particular fortunate to know a contemporary artist, Dennis Perrin, who lives and works in Maine, not too far from where we live in Newburyport. Dennis Perrin's work is exquisitely luminous and reminiscent of Sargent and the other great Bostonian painters of that era. Inspired by David Williams and my friend Dennis Perrin, I have begun a personal journey to learn as much about light from fine art painting as possible. These are the first photographs of a documentary project I am doing on the work of my friend, Dennis Perrin.

Color Me Gone

John and I were recently looking through the wonderful, bold, and definitely colorful collection of photographs by the Magnum Photographer Constantine Manos. Click on this link to hear him talk about his great photos: Magnum In Motion, American Color

I had taken a seminar with him about a year ago and boy was it inspiring and challenging. Anyways the weather was so beautiful and the light so interesting we decided to take a quick trip over to Salisbury to see if we could find some of the amazing locations and colors that he captured in a few of his photos.

Well, wow, is Salisbury beach ever changing! All sorts of spiffy new condos, mixed in with the now peeling paint and abandoned arcades.


Here are some of the photos we captured, and we are so glad we got a chance to catch just a little bit of what is left of this unique
(at least to this area) seaside amusement center because it seems like it may all be gone very soon. It sure holds lots of memories for me. Janie.