Tag: thought

Focus on Thought

December 1, 2011 by Sherwin James | 0 comments

I have always had a strong interest in the mechanics and process of thought, particularly on how it relates to communities, groups or masses. We all have thoughts – most we keep to ourselves; some we share; a few we scream to the world. We often think that our thoughts are completely unique. On the edges they may be, but at their core they are very much like the thoughts of those near or far from us.

About a year ago I decided to start a little online experiment that is centered on thought (particularly shared thought). I created a web site titled Think.as.MANY. The site currently has two components (or apps), Think.like.ME? and Think.of.a.STORY. Here’s a screenshot of the main page:

Think.like.ME? enables a visitor to enter a thought (a statement, question, anything – excluding profanity). In return the visitor is presented with other thoughts that have been entered prior that are similar. This is all done anonymously. The visitor can also browse through existing thoughts, and traverse through similar thoughts (thought tree). The idea is to see how thoughts are alike (or not). As more thoughts are added, the experiment becomes more realistic. Also, I have built a simple Android app for this. You can find it in the Android Market with the name think.like.ME?.

Think.of.a.STORY is about building a continuous story. Each visitor contributes part of the story on each visit. It’s a concept that has been done often in the past, but I thought it might be fun and interesting to visual the result across the vast Internet.

With both of these apps, the more participation the better. I encourage you to visit, participate and share with others.

Are photography boundaries helpful or harmful?

November 25, 2011 by Sherwin James | 0 comments

In my online and real-world travels I often come upon discussions on the categorization and compartmentalization of photography. It often starts with questions like “What genre is this photo?” or “Would you consider this fine art?” or “Is this photography or graphic art?“. I sometimes wonder if such questions, or rather the resulting attempts to answer them, are helpful or harmful to the photo or photography in general.

In some sense, categorization helps to focus the viewer on photos to which they care most about or to which they are most attracted to. It can help to give the viewer a sense of authenticity – like in the case of journalistic photography vs. creatively manipulated photography. Although that last point assumes that a photograph can absolutely capture an image as it truly was in the real-world. I believe that is a false assumption. Well, the ability to put a photo into a particular bucket can also aid the photographer is his/her process of creating the photo – whether it be composing the shot in a certain way, or applying the appropriate post-processing.

On the other hand, one can argue that the categorization and compartmentalization of a photo can be too constraining on the artistic intent of the photo. What does it matter what type of photo it is, as long as it appeals to the viewer. Do we need to know that a photo is “not manipulated” vs heavily processed (whether film or digital)? Maybe for legal or forensic purposes (but even then I can argue that a photo is never absolutely representative of real-life).

What is the point of a photo? Is it primarily to benefit the photography? The viewer? The “art” of photography? Society in general? I don’t know.

What do you think?

I like oranges

October 25, 2010 by Sherwin James | 0 comments

I like oranges, how about you?
If you like oranges, then I like you.
They are so good, you can’t help but like them.
I know you will, if you try them.
If you don’t like oranges as much as I do,
Then I must say that there is something wrong with you.

I don’t like plums, how about you?
If you don’t like plums, then I like you.
They are a bit distasteful, and looks shady to me.
If you take a quick try, you will also see.
Don’t tell me you like plums, because if you do,
I really can’t help but not like you.

I hate avocados, how about you?
If you hate avocados, then I like you.
They are the worst of the bunch – no good at all.
I’m sure you will agree that they make your skin crawl.
If you don’t hate avocados – unlikely as is seems,
Then you must be crazy – and not just in your dreams.
If you like avocados – I don’t quite see how that could be true,
Then, without question, I do hate you.

Is it possible to be truly absolutely selfless?

August 4, 2010 by Sherwin James | 0 comments

The very title of this post implies two ideas which I do not believe in – truth and absolute (see my previous posts) – so you can guess what my answer to that question would be – No.

As with everything else in life, the measure of selflessness among us humans (I can’t really speak for the animals; shouldn’t speak for all humans either, but I will be so bold as to try) falls somewhere between (but not on) the two extremes – absolutely selfless and absolutely selfish. More-so, I believe that the innate instinct of humans for self-preservation pushes that measure much more towards the selfish extreme. There are moments when individuals or groups may slide significantly towards the selfless extreme – if only to satisfy our selfish need to feel good about ourselves – but that visit usually doesn’t last very long. And there are also times of stress and despair that individuals bunker-down on the selfish side of life – sometimes for too long a time.

It’s OK though. Absolute selflessness can only really work if absolutely everyone is absolutely selfless. In this “conceptual” state, I believe we reach what some call Nirvana. On the flip side, absolute selfishness by absolutely everyone can only lead to complete destruction.

So, the best that we can do is to strive for Nirvana, although it is unlikely we will ever get there. And we should capitalize on those rare moments that push a large number of us towards the selfless extreme.

I believe

April 9, 2010 by Sherwin James | 2 Comments

I believe in faith, or using beliefs to guide one’s life.
I believe in the individual, but also in the individual’s responsibilities to the community.
I believe in evolution, but also believe in the divine creation of time – this is my belief.

I do not believe in absolutes.

I believe that no one is right and no one is wrong.
I believe in the awesome power of the human mind.
I believe in the resilience of the human body.

I believe that words, by themselves, are insignificant;
But when supported by our viewpoints they can elevate to magnificence, or sink to the lowest depths of despair.
I believe in the magic of a single instance in time – ever present, yet never captured.

I may not believe in your beliefs,
But I believe in your right to have them.

I believe in a fully connected physical world – we are but collections of atomic and sub-atomic particles floating in a sea of other particles;
Where we end and others begin disappears the deeper we go.
I believe that morality, however ill-defined and impossibly elusive it is, will shape our future existence.
I believe in the idea of me.

A Lonely Poem

March 1, 2010 by Sherwin James | 0 comments



Alone

Alone I stand,
In this crazy land.
Alone, as it seems,
In my benevolent dreams.
I try to be good,
As we all should.
But alone in this plan,
It appears I am.
With my beliefs, I stand firm,
Hopefully for the long term.
Won’t you join me, now,
I’m sure you know how.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but which ones?

February 2, 2010 by Sherwin James | 0 comments

Over the past couple of years I’ve grown to really enjoy capturing moments on digital film. At first it was the techy in me that drew me to the pretty cool gizmo that is the digital camera.

How does this thing work? What would happen if I do this? Why does the shutter speed affect the picture that way?

Those were the types of questions I would ask myself, as I started out. Then as I moved past the newness of the device (“until the next new device came along – after all I’m still a techy), I started to pay more attention to what was in front of the camera. My questions became:

How would it look if I got a little closer? Would the subject look better in less light? Should I include more of the background in the picture?

It was then that I started to realize the true power of the picture. This single period of time (from the time the shutter is opened to the time it closes – lasting anywhere from 1/8000 of a second to 30 seconds) captured a moment that will never ever occur again. Not only that, but it allows the viewer to super-impose the picture into their thought stream, filling in the before and after stream of events.

So with this new realization in hand I begin to consciously search for those picture moments which support and communicate an idea, thought or feeling which I wanted to present. Often this ends in disappointment (because making that match is extremely difficult – at least for me). But once in a long while, I am somewhat satisfied with the result. For example, here is a photo from a wedding I photographed not too long ago:

This photo is very deliberate, in that I was trying to capture the idea of a new beginning spawning from a grand and happy send-off. I think I did that here – but you be the judge. There are so many words that can be derived from this photo (1,000 maybe), but how does one find and capture that one picture that matches all those words that may be trying to come out.

So, a picture is worth a thousand words, but which thousand words. More importantly, which picture. These are questions that I ask myself constantly, as I attempt to communicate the thoughts that are flying, crawling and snoozing in my head.