Tag: life

Remnants Of Life

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Riding along the highway
Desert clouds loom

Out from the horizon
Hear the thunder boom!

Rain, it falls
Like sheets of glass

Tearing across
Long dried out grass

Ghostly calls are heard
Long borne in strife

Clamouring for attention
Mere remnants of life

Rising from the Earth
Those next in line

Continue their journey
An infinite paradigm…

 

Written by David Johnson

© CommunicatingCreatively/David Johnson 2015

Inspirations… Photography

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Photography

Whenever we have an interest, be it in Art, Sport, Work or in another area of Life, there are people that will inspire you.

Over time I will be highlighting the men, women and groups that have (or still do) inspire me.

I begin with one of my favourite photographers, Margaret Bourke-White: (1904 – 1971)

Margaret Bourke-White was a pioneer in many ways and her specialties included Photojournalism, Social Documentation, Architectural, Industrial and War photography, working in predominantly Black & White. She was one of LIFE Magazine’s most prolific photographers.

20150820-IMG_2573-1Margaret Bourke-White had a fascinating life full of challenges and adventures. I remain captivated by her imagery and her boldness in overcoming both work-related and personal challenges throughout her prolific photo-taking period from 1920’s through the 1950’s. She was indeed a pioneer.

In photographing in a Steel plant she used heavy equipment (that today would seem antiquated) and experimented with lenses, films, Magnesium flares and her imagination to obtain dramatic Industrial images.

Margaret Bourke-White also worked with Writer, Erskine Caldwell on the ‘You Have Seen Their Faces’ Sharecropper farmers that affected 10,000,000 Southern Family lives in the United States in 1936. The project was approached in a compassionate manner. The images are powerful and depict the farmers’ harsh way of life…

She was a pioneer of the ‘photo essay’ and photographed many of the leaders of her time, including Gandhi, Pope Pius XII, Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill.

I look at her images and can see a great sense of personal involvement from her in them. Immersing herself into her subjects, she was able to bring out graphic emotion and the beauty of light, shape and form. I have two books i.e. her autobiography, “Portrait of Myself” and the book pictured above.

A true inspiration!

Written by David Johnson
20 August 2015

Recommended reading:

Emotional Furnace

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Sitting on the porch
Strumming that guitar
Writing about their history
They’ve come so far

From early beginnings
Throughout their youth
Within their songs
They reach for the truth

Hardship, working life
Make up the verses
All the while
In an emotional furnace

Journey’s been hard
Will to win stubborn
Going through their lives
Always been governed

Seeking redemption
Wanting to be free
Listen to their story
To the future, they foresee…

Written by David Johnson

© CommunicatingCreatively/David Johnson 2015

Long, Sought After Feeling

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

That long sought after feeling
Drifts right on to

My infinite consciousness
And hangs onto

My mind is inviting
That feeling to stay

Otherwise that feeling
Would simply, drift away

Experiencing this feeling
Sets my mind alive

Gives me new hope
Taking life in my stride

As I set forth into the future
Carrying that feeling with glee

The future is bright
For I can be me!

Written by David Johnson

© CommunicatingCreatively/David Johnson 2015