Human Nature?

What do these images have in common?

‘No one changes his/her mind about anything.’ In subtext add to this, ‘No matter the information/evidence he/she is supplied with regarding whatever subject is at hand.’ 

Someone asks me what’s with this sudden interest in photography, the above is probably as good an answer as any. No one changes his/her mind about anything. Not a day goes by, it seems, when I am not reminded of this sad fact. Which begs this question:  What’s the point of exposing the deceits, frauds and moral violence we are constantly bombarded with? 

I just had an email  exchange with an old friend who would not, and I mean would not, deal with in any way the fact that the ‘Spanish Flu’ of 1918 was not contagious, for to deal with it would expose the implications thereof, which would mean he is wrong about something.

A good friend of mine doesn’t speak to me anymore because I asked him to read Tom Cowan’s book (The Contagion Myth) and/or Artur Firstenberg’s book (The Invisible Rainbow) and insisted that viruses have been isolated then admitted that they hadn’t, but yelled at me ‘It doesn’t matter, bro!’, meaning that he’s still right about viruses causing COVID, no matter that he was wrong about viruses very existence, and anyway, he went on, Cowan is a disinformation agent!

What was behind this bullshit? The ego-fear of being wrong.

I recently lost another friend for the same reason. The two-big ego-fear of being wrong. (When someone waits a long time before bringing up a subject that, for two-bit ego reasons, has been bothering him/her, some history re-writing is likely in the offing.)

I could go on and on with anecdotes of this sort but my point is that looking at a good photograph, especially one that I have made, distracts me from thoughts of the above distressing aspect of human nature. Even better: The process of making a good photograph is at the same time similar to and the opposite of, the process of uncovering and exposing the deceits, frauds and moral violence with are constantly bombarded with. This process is also (somehow) the opposite of two-bit ego fears, be they mine or someone else’s. 

Most of the folks who have stuck it out with this blog are already awake to most of the deceits, frauds and moral violence we are constantly bombarded with and are mostly looking for verification that they are right (and not wrong) so my thought is that taking a break and looking at some good (or at least pleasing to the eye) photographs might do everyone some good.

So I made up another slideshow, and this one, I hope, will be especially relaxing (and ego-free), given the subject matter. 

Allan