February 02, 2006
Proceed At Your Own Peril
Remember Seydou Keita, photographer from Mali, who documented "people on the uneven edge of modernity"? To my delight I have unearthed yet another fabulous photographer for your perusal --- someone who works in an equally exotic setting though I dare not mention the name of said setting, now that I know I may be sifted and, if so, rendited (as in rendition), held without trial and tortured at the President's whim, even though I am a proud member (oh hear this you sifters) of the American Civil Liberties Union. Although I am a cheeky girl , I hesitate to risk it.
I am counting heavily on the possiblity that the FBI, the NSA and the CIA will not have time to click on all my clickies, given that they are busy monitoring great volumes of internet activity. You will find it comforting that 56% of us don't mind a bit, since WE are doing nothing wrong. If you are reading this at your local public library, you probably shouldn't click on the clickies either.
That said, assuming that you have chosen to proceed at your own risk, let me tell you what I love about the fabulous photographer from the nameless place.
I recently wrote a poem about unstructured time, given that I allow myself so little, and it makes me anxious . In my poem, (as yet unpublished --even by myself)-- I noted that feminine energy is often constrained by the structure of caretaking in which women are embedded . An important way to liberate the sacred feminine, is to break free of these structures. It's often difficult to find our most creative selves in the repetitive and the mundane. Martha Stewart, of course, manages very well in this arena, but most of us find it draining. Our fabulous photographer, in her photo essay, "Like Every Day", captures this issue in bold and beautiful images - metatphorophotos, hung with chadors.
The fabulous photographer clearly lives in a culture that is more oppressive to women than our own. However, in any society, when women have no choice about whether or when to bear children, they are inexorably tied to the repetitive. Choice is crucial in a society that values and supports the feminine. Kiss it goodbye with Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court, and join Martha-Ann Bomgartner Alito and her dog, Avonleas's Affable Zeus, in the lobby with your hankerchief.
I should say that I wanted to email the photographer to gush about her work -- I'll tell you first, just in case they shut me down.
Photo note: Camouflage, get it? Actually this is about as exotic as my own environment gets -- the knickknack section of HomeGoods.
Addendum: Notice the map of "said setting" is one provided by the Christian evangelists -- scroll down, and you'll find some optimistic stats for possible proselytizing.