Category: Poiesis

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 6

I was punched in the gut and slapped on the face by the humidity and heat when we first arrived in Puerta Viejo, and I wasn’t sure I was going to survive the simulated jungle shack experience in our “boutique” accommodations where everything is always a little damp and the “sounds of nature” are part of the fun—there are no windows so you don’t have a choice but enjoy a million cicadas buzzing, a hundred howlers howling, and dozen geckos chirping, day and night. But I was now king of the pivot, and by the second night I had acclimatized … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 6” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Instax Moment

Fujifilm had the right idea with their “don’t just take, give” brand philosophy for Instax, encouraging their users (“a generous generation”) to give away more prints instead of being precious about the once-and-done instantness of instant photography. It’s why I started looking into Instax cameras after borrowing a Polaroid Now for a few weeks (and why Christine surprised me by getting me one for my birthday). I brought it with me on this trip on the off chance that I’d meet someone I’d want to give a portrait, instead of just take, and in Cartago, I instantly “clicked” with this … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Instax Moment” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 5

Today I hope to dip into the Carribean for the first time, but here are the last of the captures from the Quepos side of the Pacific. The great thing about this national park is that the forest paths all lead to the beach, so almost everyone on our tour opted to stay there at the end of our walk. We had places to be, so we left with our guide who couldn’t help but point our every mangrove and every fern he saw on our way out. Swipe to see a slo-mo sloth sequence. Pray for my laptop. It’s … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 5” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 4

I’m typing these words under a mosquito net in a cabin by the Caribbean, but we started our day in Cartago, the historical capital. We were there to visit Our Lady of the Angels, also known as La Negrita, the patron saint of Costa Rica, on this day, her feast day, a major national holiday. We knew it was going to be big, but we didn’t realize just how big it would be until we switched on the local news last night and saw a live broadcast of the Basilica’s plaza already full of pilgrims who kept streaming in all … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 4” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 3

I’m posting these pictures from the suburbs of San Jose, but we started this morning walking around with our necks craned trying to spot monkeys, birds, and sloths high up in the coastal jungle canopy. I found the spectacle of it all just as entertaining as the carefully curated experience of manufactured adventure itself. Our guide’s enthusiasm for every species of any kind we encountered — from fluorescent lichen to the national tree of Nicaragua — was infectious. You couldn’t help but get carried away with everyone else. Swipe to the very end to see two very cute subjects of … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 3” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 2

One of the surprisingly (but not too shockingly, for anyone who knows me or my star chart) difficult things for me is to let go of autonomy and self-direction, all the more so halfway across the globe. It’s been years since I had to follow someone else’s schedule and itinerary, so I mentally prepared myself for the self-discipline of letting go, and did everything I could to set myself up for success by asking for what I needed well in advance and packing things that would maximize my comfort. But things happen, as we saw with my Ricoh, so we … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 2” →

by jad

Costa Rica: Day 1

We have a very long layover in Dallas after a sleepless red eye, so here I posting digi-captures on the airport Wi-Fi while Christine takes a cat nap next to me. Someone on the PA keeps inviting us to a prayer service in the chapel by Gate D40. I saw someone in a Trump-Vance t-shirt. Airport ethnography is fun. I left my higher-res digital camera at home to force myself to take more with film on this trip. But I do enjoy having this Powershot on me; I’m literally posting these shots while sitting across the same window in the … Continue reading “Costa Rica: Day 1” →

by jad

Christine’s Project: Kelsey Creek

We tied up a few strings and put a bow on a couple of things today, and I guess the giddiness of relief put me in the mood for oddball scenography when we found ourselves by the new eastside rapid rail station. I took these shots while seriously needing a nap. Can you tell? Today’s biggest bow was the one we put on @christine.bingham.art‘s photo-documentation project; with Maria Goretti now in the can, we have all 12 saints documented — and that’s a wrap (for me–Christine still has to finish the book). I just love that the very last photo … Continue reading “Christine’s Project: Kelsey Creek” →

by jad

Thanks For Taking Her Picture

“Imagine a tree abundant in its branches and leaves: its buds grow to maturity, its bark grows to maturity, its sapwood grows to maturity, its heartwood grows to maturity. In the same way, when—there being mindfulness and alertness—a person is abundant in mindfulness and alertness, the prerequisite for a sense of conscience and concern becomes abundant. There being a sense of conscience and concern…the prerequisite for restraint of the senses becomes abundant. There being restraint of the senses…the prerequisite for virtue becomes abundant. There being virtue…the prerequisite for right concentration becomes abundant. There being right concentration…the prerequisite for knowledge and … Continue reading “Thanks For Taking Her Picture” →

by jad

A Place to Linger

I had a conversation with a friend in between taking these photos and chilling on a bench for a popsicle break. We texted back and forth on what it means to be “boxed in” by an interest or a subject or an identity, and how our shared completist urge can get in the way of getting out of comfort zones and trying something new. And it made me think about how we all need containers to make sense of the world, and how “boxes” can be reframed as “neighborhoods,” or places we linger and repeat ourselves and become more and … Continue reading “A Place to Linger” →