Finally in Tuxedo after several hours' scary driving in a skiddy
car, the house is nicely whispering heat.
All the way here thinking about the Arthur Batut (father of aerial photography) picture in first position,
which I originally saw covering the Penguin paperback edition of Robert Louis
Stevenson’s Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This was the first “good” book I
persuaded Jane to read and I’m so glad I did.
Dr. Jekyll is beautifully written, profound, and deeply
moving, as well as (in parts) gasp-out-loud
shocking. I monitored Jane’s progress through the book several summers ago and actually heard the sharp breath
intakes. A great ride for her.
The young man’s portrait above, like the two
Batut female portraits below, are pioneering, expressive examples of intentional double-exposure.
I don’t need to expound on the mystery
expressed by being implied in these images, but on this lonely,
lonely cold evening I recall one of
my favorite pasttimes – asking Jane to look at pictures and describing to me what she sees.
The game started when I annoyed her by persistently
looking at "rock stars of my
youth" pictures in magazines, ignoring her.
Jane’s answers were always perceptive, visually acute, and imaginative. That being said, she frequently used the
one-word description “hobo,” especially when viewing Bob Dylan and "All Things Must
Pass"-period George Harrison images.
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