Journey to Ixtlan

I've been actively doing photography since 2007. My first contradance pictures were taken in 2008. Look back at these, and then looking to the present, makes me think about the role that pictures have in our shared realities. The ones I took this week seem so real, but images from years past seem real too, but that reality is no more. What is real, and what can pictures tell us?


Pictures Proof
Poem for Day 045 – 20150215

In the moment,
all things seem eternal,
nothing more or less
than what we have now.
Nobody has gotten older,
no one has left this place.
Could it really be this way
or am I only wishing it were?

Recent pictures are my ally,
whispering their white lie:
nothing is changing here,
everything is as it was!
Last week, last month,
these pictures echo the now.
Fissures appear in the wall
between the now and then.

The veil has been raised,
but the fabric is thin,
cracks in our shared space,
with more pictures the clue.
We were younger once,
with people now absent by our side.
Do pictures reveal another moment,
as eternal as the one now have?

Reality is etched in sand,
on the time's tide swept beach.
It confirmed to you and me
by camera's remembering eye.
Calm the mind, all is well,
the moment is eternal nigh,
change is the only constant,
pictures proof of moments shared.

© 2015. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved

It has been a busy day today on the video and pic front.

3rd Annual Fall PowWow Hat Tournament - 10/26/2013 (Not contra dancing, but still neat!)
River Falls Contra Dance - B&W - 11/01/2013
River Falls Contra Dance - 11/01/2013 - Part 1
River Falls Contra Dance - 11/01/2013 - Part 2
River Falls Contra Dance - 11/01/2013 (Video!)
River Falls Contra Dance - 11/02/2013 (Video!)
Monster Mash Costume "Contest" - 10/26/2013 (Video!)
Monster Mash Evening Waltz - 10/26/2013 (Video!)

So what is this contra dancing thing that I'm so involved in? From the WIkipedia entry... "Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to several partnered folk dance styles in which couples dance in two facing lines or a square.[1] Sometimes described as New England folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world, though they are especially popular in North America."

Would you like to learn more?  Let me know!

It seems I've had a deviantArt account since 12/18/06. Well, at moonvoice's suggestion I've put some of my better (IMHO) pictures on this alternate website. I can be found at http://greensh.deviantart.com/. Do let me know if you have a deviantArt account so I can friend you!

(big smile)


My new living room, now with walls/ceiling painted and floor rejuvenated!

I drove all over today and got three different sets of pictures from a variety of locations. This one picture is the rear of an abandoned farm building off of HWY 221 in Laurens county...

wulfwalker and I are going up to Asheville NC this weekend! I am looking forward to getting some really good pictures of all kinds of stuff. Below are two really sweet pictures from the flickr set I took today... (Boomer, top picture; Bear, bottom picture).

This photo essay features a tractor powered sawmill we found on the property of Mr. Johnson, the same property that previously posted Wyatt General Store is located on. The sawmill is still operational, proven when Mr. Johnson came out to see what we were doing on the property. After he was assured we were only taking pictures instead of tools, he shared that his father had purchased the tractor in 1949. Mr. Johnson uses the sawmill as a hobby and the most recent results of his efforts were evident in the cedar boards on the ground. The cuts were incredibly smooth, though we were told that this is not true when things 'go wrong'. The entire operation is almost entirely powered from a drive connection to the tractor. A single electrical line only powers the working lights and a small motor operating the chain and pulley that removes wood chips from underneath the blade. There were other odd bits of machinery on the property. Mr. Johnson said that he liked to collect things. wulfwalker and I could understand as we do the same.

This picture set is part of a larger trip we took in Anderson county.   All 66 pictures from our journey are in this flickr set.

Top: Tractor powered sawmill  Bottom: wulfwalker gets a rare picture of greensh in front of the 1949 tractor

Click on picture to see more larger image

( More pics from the tractor powered saw mill and other sights seen... )

Note to self... the easy way to boost flickr views is to post pictures of erotic statues. This is my lesson of the day.

I am trying out the more manual features of my wonderful camera so last night I pulled down some statues from around the house. They range from cute cats (of course!) to a bit of erotica. The most 'interesting', the statue of a lady holding a rose, was found at a Goodwill thrift store. As they say here in Laurens, "you don't never know what you'll find!".

All 37 pictures from my macro photography exploration are in this this flickr set.



Click on picture to see more larger image

( More Statues... )

My lovely mate and I toured the town of Pendleton SC looking for some picture taking opportunities. We came upon the partially abandoned Pendleton Oil Mill. The location still manufacturers and ships "non compost, natural organic fertilizers; wholesales chemicals & allied products; wholesales feed Compost, Fish meal, Manure or guano, Plant hormones, Fertilizers and plant nutrients and herbicides, Organic fertilizers and plant nutrients, Chemical fertilizers and plant nutrients, Herbicides, Nonhazardous waste disposal, and Liquid waste treatment". Joy!

An observation of the site revealed that some portion of the operation was now abandoned, with rusted conveyors, augers and motors visible from the outside. This is one location that I'd be afraid to enter due to the presence of unknown chemicals! The site was an interesting study in planned abandonment as production methods changed.



( More Views of Oil Mill )

The weather just turned cooler here in SC. Fall is here!

I hope everyone is enjoying the pictures I've been posting. My mate can testify that I now drag her out on weekends on "picture hunts". It is funny what strikes an interest in people. Earlier this year I paid some decent bucks for a quality metal detector. Have I used it? No. The camera could have gone the same, but it did not. Instead I very much enjoy finding good shots and then posting them. The abandoned places angle really appeals to me. I'll write more about that another time. I just discovered how easy it is to record movies on my camera and then upload them to Youtube, so I suspect you'll see more of this kind of material. Good visual stuff to go along with the writing!

 My lovely mate and I visited the Pickens County Museum Of Art & History. It is located in building that was previously the county jail.  I'll post some great pictures of it another time.  For now I'll share some pics of the convict cart that was located outside the museum.

Convict Cart - Side and Front	Inside Convict Cart
	Read about it here!
Side and Back