Blog Archives
a lullaby for suffering
Lately I’ve been re-listening to Leonard Cohen…
When I look at this scene, I am unable to decide if the sand is encroaching on the branches and will eventually cover them, or if the branches spend their time escaping the sand and will eventually join their colleagues on the next dune over.
The more I look, the more uncertain I am.
But what does this have to do with Leonard Cohen? Nothing, probably, except that my mind connects photographic confusion and his lyric:
There’s a lullaby for suffering
And a paradox to blame
But it’s written in the scriptures
And it’s not some idle claim
You want it darker, we kill the flame
Paradox. Darker. Flame. Suffering.
White Sands National Park, New Mexico
photographed 12.14.2025
sand/snake, 2
Remember yesterday when I sort of made fun of myself about spending a long time taking photos of a stick?
Look what happened: the very next day I did the same thing with a different stick.
Consistency is evidently an important part of my process.
photographed 12.14.2025
beauty walks a razor’s edge
I suppose that normal people think about White Sands and think about, you know, the white sand.
But these picnic shelters always come to mind: I can remember these exact shapes from my childhood visits to the dunes and I’ve seen vintage photos of them fairly often. Their shapes remind me of the gentle slopes of the dunes, which are of course constantly shifting, but still keep their sinuous shapes.
White Sands National Park, New Mexico
photographed 12.13.2025
dome (reflection)
The Paseo del Norte Hotel has the best bar I’ve ever seen: there’s a 45′ diameter glass dome in the ceiling, which from a certain angle you can see reflected in a piano.
There’s no reason to take my word for it: go on over to El Paso and see for yourself!
El Paso, Texas
photographed 12.14.2025
One Day | One Image 