On a lighter note.

I recently added a puppy to my family, and my house has taken on the cluttered look of a nursery with new toys strewn about every room.  I was playing with Max the other day, and I took a look at some of these toys and suddenly saw them in a new light.  All of a sudden I saw foreign objects and landscapes in an alien world.  Always seeing the world in images, I wanted to try to capture these toys in this new light.

The Last Leaves.   We have a beautiful Japanese maple tree outside that has the most beautiful crimson-colored leaves when it blooms in the spring.  Almost all the leaves have fallen and the tree looks so bare with just these few leaves left.  I know though that spring will come again soon enough.

Portrait of a Golden.  This is a photograph of my female Golden Retriever, Rosie, who is four years old.  Most of the time she is a regular Tazmanian Devil, but she has these rare moments where she quiets down into a beautiful creature.  Dog owners always believe their dogs are the best, but I firmly believe mine are.

Spider.  This big guy had built himself a web out in my front yard, and he just screamed to be photographed.

"50 Million People Go Hungry Every Day."  In 2001 Andreas Gursky created a diptych photograph called "99 cent" which depicted an overhead view of a 99-cent store (depicted below).   This image speaks about the overwhelming passion Americans have for consumerism while there are so many people around the world who do not have food to eat.  This image became the most expensive photograph in the world when it sold in 2007 for $3.34 million.   One day Joe came home after shopping; and after I put away some of the groceries in one of the cupboards, I was taken back by how full and almost obscene the cupboard looked compared to the abject poverty in which so many Americans live.  Being reminded of Gursky's "99 cent" image, I created this shot to make my own statement discussing consumerism.

Longing.  When I saw this styrofoam head, it seemed to be gazing out the window with such a feeling of longing and loneliness.