Spring Is In The Air!
Tag: life
Inspirations… 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.
Margaret 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:
Emerging Life
A Path, A Way
Emotional Furnace
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
Dreams In The Air
Long, Sought After Feeling
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
Like Thin, Fine Curtains…
Like thin, fine curtains
Blowing in the wind
The rain, it sweeps
Then begins to rescind
Refreshing water
Gives life to below
New beginnings
Life starts to flow
A ripple in a pond
Frequency bestowed
Below the surface
Activity explodes
Earth enriched
A beauty so unique
Tranquility there
For all to seek
Written by David Johnson
26 July 2015
© CommunicatingCtreatively/David Johnson 2015
And I Know That I Will
I sit and I watch the day unfolding
Shadows creep in, shadows creep out
The Sun dances across the sky
Partnering with clouds as we watch the day go by
As I sit and I wonder
What the day will bring
With each passing hour
No more than a shower
The day goes on
The light changes hourly
I sit and watch the day unfold
A promise of more I surely am told
I dream and I dream
I watch and I listen
The day speaks to me
And I listen intently
The message is clear
How could I have not seen it?
It was there all along
Was my mind distracted?
I begin to understand
And try not to question
What life was telling me
Again and again
All along it has been saying
What I should do
Had I have not been listening
I would’ve missed it today too
The Sun it goes down
Beyond the hill
The path is clear
And I know that I will
Written by David Johnson
This is the first poem I had ever written & was originally published on my ‘Observations & Other Writings’ blog in August 2013.
© CommunicatingCreatively/David Johnson 2015
Communicating Creatively 