We had a wonderful and extraordinary trip to the USA and I took a huge number of photos with the new camera that I posted about before I left. It more than lived up to my expectations. It was very easy to use and coped beautifully with the tricky demands of the bright light in the National Parks of the south west desert country visited in the second half of our time away.
I'm now trying to search through and to cull all the duplicate or not-worth-keeping photos and to assimilate my impressions.
Above all, whenever I visit the USA, I'm struck afresh by its sheer size, and by the grandeur, the space and the huge contrasts between isolated, quiet, back country and the manic and, at times, saddening city life.
As we journeyed around, I tried several times to post photos and impressions but failed. Either Blogger wouldn't let me log on or I was mystified by the workings of my husband's newly acquired Nexus tablet - or perhaps a bit of both - so I'm sorry you've not heard from me for so long.
Here now, is a small selection of the photos I took and some thoughts and impressions of it all.
We found wonderful views, here in the Grand Canyon in Arizona ...
... amazing and very accessible modern sculpture, much of it by Seward Johnson in a 50 years retrospective, in Trenton New Jersey (and no, she's not real, though I had to go up close to make sure, just like many others before me) ...
... traditional North American Indian art in a tower near the Grand Canyon ...
... and beautiful Navajo weaving in a museum in Page, Arizona ...
... profound and never before experienced silence in a wash canyon in Capitol Reef, Nevada (how do you photograph silence but through faces upturned in amazement?)...
and great companionship with life-long friends.
But there was so much else besides which may or may not find its way onto my blog in some form or other though I'm sure there will be more in later posts.
I also think there are seeds for my textile work in some of the photos I took, especially of patterns, dead trees and crisp shadows. I haven't shown them here as gestation time will be needed for all that.
For now it's enough to say that we had a fantastic and unforgettable time - but it's good to be back.
I'm now trying to search through and to cull all the duplicate or not-worth-keeping photos and to assimilate my impressions.
Above all, whenever I visit the USA, I'm struck afresh by its sheer size, and by the grandeur, the space and the huge contrasts between isolated, quiet, back country and the manic and, at times, saddening city life.
As we journeyed around, I tried several times to post photos and impressions but failed. Either Blogger wouldn't let me log on or I was mystified by the workings of my husband's newly acquired Nexus tablet - or perhaps a bit of both - so I'm sorry you've not heard from me for so long.
Here now, is a small selection of the photos I took and some thoughts and impressions of it all.
We found wonderful views, here in the Grand Canyon in Arizona ...
... amazing and very accessible modern sculpture, much of it by Seward Johnson in a 50 years retrospective, in Trenton New Jersey (and no, she's not real, though I had to go up close to make sure, just like many others before me) ...
... traditional North American Indian art in a tower near the Grand Canyon ...
... and beautiful Navajo weaving in a museum in Page, Arizona ...
... profound and never before experienced silence in a wash canyon in Capitol Reef, Nevada (how do you photograph silence but through faces upturned in amazement?)...
But there was so much else besides which may or may not find its way onto my blog in some form or other though I'm sure there will be more in later posts.
I also think there are seeds for my textile work in some of the photos I took, especially of patterns, dead trees and crisp shadows. I haven't shown them here as gestation time will be needed for all that.
For now it's enough to say that we had a fantastic and unforgettable time - but it's good to be back.
Glad to hear you had such a marvelous time in the U.S. It is all those things you mentioned above -- beautiful, and horrible. Kind of like life itself. Hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteWhen we go on these trips to faraway places, I realise how much I love travelling. The extraordinary things we find, the similarities, the differences and the challenges are all fascinating and stimulating. Even the living out of a suitcase has its appeal ... but It's good to be back and later today I will find the time to look and see what everyone in blogland has been up to - another, different pleasure!
DeleteWelcome back, Margaret. It's amazing, isn't it having a continent as a country. We lived in New England for a couple of years in the 80s and had various long holidays in other parts, and found England so cramped on our return.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your posts again.
You are so right about the continent as a country thing. I felt the same when I lived in western Canada in the early 70s - 3000 miles from one coast to the other - extraordinary.
DeleteWhat I also find so extraordinary though is that there are the great distances covered to do quite ordinary things and this enormous space and variety but also the reluctance of many to stray far out of the state where they live. I spoke to people in the south west who had never been to New York, Chicago or even Miami and I remember this being common when I lived in Canada.
Oh it looks as if you've had a fabulous trip and covered quite a lot of territory! And you seem to have had fun recording it with your new camera! Can't wait to see more of the pics....
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you again, Marny.
DeleteWe did have a fabulous trip ... I've still not fully come back down to earth!
New camera was fantastic - small yet able to do anything I wanted of it. What more could I ask?
looks to have been an amazing experience. Thanks for your comment.
ReplyDeleteWe did - so now I'm beginning to think of the next one ... next year!
Deletebelles photos avec la nouvelle caméra!
ReplyDeleteD'accord - la caméra était un grand succès - et j'ai beaucoup de souvenirs extraordinaire. Un voyage inoubliable!
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