notes from wilderness

A number of other images from the Connect The Dots event...

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:55:00 -0400

350VT Connect The Dots Group Portrait

Bill McKibben Speaks for 350.org in VT

350VT Connect The Dots Group Portrait

A number of other images from the Connect The Dots event during 350.org Climate Impacts Day in Waitsfield, Vermont recently published in the Burlington Free Press

Defining Sustainability: Education

Hundreds of Vermonters gathered on May 5th, 2012 for the 350.org Climate Impacts Day, Connect The Dots event in Waitsfield, Vermont to learn about recent developments surrounding the climate crisis. Many who attended this event had spent the morning volunteering at Vermont Green Up Day activities in and around the Mad River Valley, one of the regions hardest hit by Tropical Storm Irene.

Speakers during the day’s events included 350.org founder Bill McKibben, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin. The event was particularly special for many Vermonters in that it was first in a series of recent global climate action events where Bill McKibben was able to attend the day’s events in his own home state of Vermont. Climate Impacts Day included thousands of communities around the world who came together to Connect the Dots, learn, raise awareness and call for urgent action to stop the climate crisis. Keep connecting the dots

These images are part of a long-form documentary project I have undertaken on sustainable living in Vermont with the working title: Defining Sustainability

"There is a tendency at every important but difficult crossroad to pretend that it’s not really..."

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:25:32 -0400

“There is a tendency at every important but difficult crossroad to pretend that it’s not really there.”

- Bill McKibben

Coconut Processing. Ben Tre, Vietnam. 2011 (A picture package...

Wed, 02 May 2012 01:44:00 -0400

© 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.

© 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved.

Coconut Processing. Ben Tre, Vietnam. 2011 (A picture package out-take from a larger narrative I am developing from Vietnam under the working title The Long March)

Tadanori Yokoo. Shambhala #9 of 14.Japanese, Shôwa era, 1974....

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:24:00 -0400

Tadanori Yokoo. Shambhala #9 of 14.
Japanese, Shôwa era, 1974. Silkscreen with offset text, 85cm x 57cm.

everything becomes illuminated

On a recent trip to the North Shore in Massachusetts as a visiting artist to the Photography Department at Montserrat College of Art, I was fortunate to reconnect with a number of old friends & artist colleagues—finding great inspiration in doing so.

In addition, I was able to study the Seeking Shambhala exhibition at Boston MFA:

Shambhala is a Sanskrit word describing a mythical land whose exact location is hidden behind mist of snow-capped mountains, where peace reigns, wealth abounds, and there is no illness. The West was first introduced to the concept as “Shangri-la” in the 1930s book and film Lost Horizon, but Shambhala, in both physical and spiritual senses, has been part of Tibetan Buddhist art and culture for centuries.

Beyond having an opportunity to revisit the poignant work of Gonkar Gyatso in this exhibition—a contemporary artist dealing with issues of Tibetan identity in exile—and view a varied collection of 17th century Thangka paintings, I was introduced anew to the work of Tadanori Yokoo, a prolific Japanese graphic artist and painter.

a synesthesia of symbolism

Fascinating enough, Yokoo is said to have stumbled upon the concept of Shambhala while researching UFOs. In his edition of the same name, 14 vividly hued silkscreen prints from 1974 are on display in sequence. In Shambhala, Yokoo cleverly interplays underlying rhythms of Buddhist, Hindu & Occult iconography—all in a visual framework built upon appropriated incense box images, rich pop-art alchemy and various inter-linked visual metaphors. The mixture of iconography and relationship suggested by both form and proximity in his work is quite evocative—the multi-layered execution an inspiring exploration of media, representation & meaning—transcending the sometimes literal limitations of graphic design and print making mediums with great depth in both concept and execution.

"We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind..."

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:59:00 -0400

“We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went & sorry that it’s all gone.”

- Robert M. Pirsig

looking forward to laugh out loud afternoons into our summer & fall

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:42:00 -0400

These images are part of a long-form documentary project I have undertaken on sustainable living in Vermont with the working title: Defining Sustainability

"In a world that is buckling under the weight of profit-making, that is overrun by the destructive..."

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:41:00 -0400

“In a world that is buckling under the weight of profit-making, that is overrun by the destructive sirens of Techno-science and the power-hunger of globalization—that new brand of slavery—beyond all that, Friendship exists, Love exists.”

- Henri Cartier–Bresson

So nice to pay a visit to an old friend and welcome a new...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 07:52:00 -0400

So nice to pay a visit to an old friend and welcome a new addition to the personal art collection. Many thanks to Leonard Greco for this visceral still life. Note the Andreas Gursky poster in the background and possible meaning implications of the objects.

leonardgreco:

Still Life in Brooklyn.

burn like roman candles across the night…

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:00:00 -0400

burn like roman candles across the night…:

Pay a visit to Jennifer Sherowski’s site to get great gone mad, rekindle your stand off with the steering wheel a while, read a beauty of a poem and catch a glimpse at Director Walter Salles’ (The Motorcycle Diaries) On The Road trailer a la Kerouac.

Excerpt from How to Meditate by Jack Kerouac:

…When a thought
comes a-springing from afar with its held-
forth figure of image, you spoof it out,
you spuff it off, you fake it, and
it fades, and thought never comes-and
with joy you realize for the first time
“thinking’s just like not thinking-
So I don’t have to think
any
more

"How to respect a situation while also creating a work of art? By addressing suffering that will..."

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:19:00 -0400

“How to respect a situation while also creating a work of art? By addressing suffering that will always exist. This is how I envision art that is linked to the existing world.”

- Sophie Ristelhueber

Really we are in the business of creating a miracle here on...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:30:00 -0500

Really we are in the business of creating a miracle here on Earth…

—Ian MacKenzie

letters to a young photographer (part one: edited for clarity)

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0500

Question:

What advice would you give me—as far as taking pictures goes—as I depart for Thailand on Friday? I am hoping to have minimal "should have" and "could have" moments when I come back, and to prevent these, I've been thinking ahead a lot about what I want to focus on…—Maria

Answers:

1. I would suggest you reconsider using the phrase "taking pictures" and possibly replace it with "making pictures". In the final analysis, you are the author of your photographs and your personal viewpoint in a single image or series of images is of principle concern in the interest of effective storytelling value. Mostly, there are in between moments in photography and the division between these and the matter of successful evocative imagery may be the made up in the passing of a fraction of a second and in the movement of a fraction of an inch to the right or left, up or down.

2. Remember that light and all it's qualities are the basis of photography and without there are no pictures (or at least no successful pictures). Always consider the lighting; your subject(s) gesture and their rhythm; the relationship between figure and ground; the moment when these elements relate best in the interest of the story—with care.

3. Don't over think things. Simply witness, respond and calmly cover the scene from as many valuable angles as possible. Always find pictures from far away, near and in the in-between—this means many overall angles, details and medium-distance vantage points. Seek out all the visceral angles that might best tell a given story.

4. Work predominantly in even lighting situations and avoid distracting elements of formal dissonance or hi-key color such as blown-out highlights in your frame. Recompose to avoid items of stark contrast where they detract from the subject. First find the "safe" photographs and craft them well, then diverge from there. Always photograph using the full-frame and experiment copiously. Watch your edges.

5. Do not censor yourself. If you find something which captures your interest, slow down and stay with it for it may not be revealed again. Trust your intuition.

6. Be mindful of cultural ritual, influence and tradition. Learn the language and use it with respect and good humor. Work to portray your subjects with both dignity and honor—keep this in your heart and they should notice. Be patient.

7. Never carry fear or anxiety with you—yet be mindful and careful of your immediate environment—watchful toward what is to come. Find fascination in your surroundings, be curious about everything in the capacity of your senses and ask of your experience many questions. Slow down. Look to the periphery. Always remember to breathe deeply as this simple act will find you all the more relaxed and aware in your surroundings.—Seth Butler

Photo

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Defining Sustainability: Homesteading A homesteading party...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:49:00 -0500

Defining Sustainability: Homesteading

A homesteading party in Barnard, Vermont brought together many individuals focused on setting the foundation sill, knee brace and first floor joists in place for a new farming project founded this past year. A large group gathered to volunteer together during the course of the day, staging upon a new foundation in what once was a parcel of the founding homestead in Barnard’s rural agrarian community. A majority of the wooden structure for this timber frame was both locally and sustainably harvested with the guidance of a neighborhood forester and milled by the homesteaders’ hands on site.

These images are part of a long-form documentary project I have undertaken on sustainable living in Vermont with the working title: Defining Sustainability

"…ya’know he was like something out of a W.P.A. project like Dorothea Lange… Walker Evans,..."

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:47:04 -0500

“

…ya’know he was like something out
of a W.P.A. project like Dorothea Lange…
Walker Evans, James Agee an’them…
people who had this sense of America…
as a country under seige.

Undergoing a trial during the depression…
a society that… needed it’s dignity back.

Corlis [Benefideo] believed that in order
to effect any political or social change…
you had to know exactly what you
were talking about.

You had to know what the country itself…
the ground… the real thing…
not some political abstraction…
was all about… so he proposed…

”

- Barry Lopez (via The Mappist)

Dorothea Lange

Walker Evans

James Agee

Inspiration to Cultivate

The world is a miracle unfolding in the pitch dark. We are lighting candles.
—Barry Lopez

The Aurora Borealis shines in red with hints of green in the...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

The Aurora Borealis shines in red with hints of green in the Western sky during the autumn of 2001 over Silver Lake in Barnard, Vermont, United States.
© Copyright 2011 Seth Butler. All Rights Reserved. http://www.sethbutler.com

Red Aurora Over Australia Credit & Copyright: Alex...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:30:05 -0500

Red Aurora Over Australia
Credit & Copyright: Alex Cherney (Terrastro, TWAN)

Explanation: Why would the sky glow red? Aurora. Last week’s solar storms, emanating mostly from active sunspot region 1402, showered particles on the Earth that excited oxygen atoms high in the Earth’s atmosphere. As the excited element’s electrons fell back to their ground state, they emitted a red glow. Were oxygen atoms lower in Earth’s atmosphere excited, the glow would be predominantly green. Pictured above, this high red aurora is visible just above the horizon last week near Flinders, Victoria, Australia. The sky that night, however, also glowed with more familiar but more distant objects, including the central disk of our Milky Way Galaxy on the left, and the neighboring Large and Small Magellanic Cloud galaxies on the right. A time-lapse video highlighting auroras visible that night puts the picturesque scene in context. Why the sky did not also glow green remains unknown.

one too many mornings & a thousand miles behind…

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:30:05 -0500

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan

Chimes of Freedom features a diverse group of artists across the generational and musical spectrum. The performers, including many of Amnesty International’s longtime supporters, range in age from Miley Cyrus, 19, to folk music legend Pete Seeger, who, at 92, records Dylan’s poignant “Forever Young,” with a children’s chorus.

The diversity of the musicians and musical genres — from rock, rap, hip-hop to pop, folk, country, jazz and blues — attests to Amnesty’s depth of support in the music community, the universal appeal of the core message of human rights, and the breadth of Dylan’s impact on culture. Almost every track on the album is being released for sale for the first time* — except for the title song, Dylan’s original 1964 recording of “Chimes of Freedom.”

50 years ago, Bob Dylan started his professional career by picking up his guitar and playing at a coffee house in Greenwich Village. That same year, British lawyer Peter Benenson launched a campaign to stand up for those imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. That campaign grew into a human rights movement, Amnesty International.

Through the decades, musicians have been among Amnesty International’s most inspiring and passionate allies in the fight against injustice. This is the concept behind the release of this very special album—Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.

This album saves lives. Click HERE to Purchase from Amnesty International

in silent protest

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:30:00 -0500

Kham Province, Tibet. 2007.
A Chinese settler works to process recycled grain bags as two native Tibetans walk past. Due to oppressive government policy, ethnic Chinese have taken many of even the most rudimentary of jobs in Tibet, as well as much of the land the native population once used for it’s primarily nomadic culture. In an intervention document prepared for the United Nations, the Tibet Justice Center has stated “The massive transfer of Chinese settlers and soldiers has had a devastating impact on the economic, social and cultural life—and rights—of Tibetans. Tibetan farm and grasslands have been confiscated and incorporated into collectivized and communal farms. The rapid increase in settlers and soldiers lead to the first famines in Tibet’s history, with the death of over 340,000 Tibetans, because the land could not support the rapid increase. Ill-conceived efforts to boost productivity of lands suitable only for nomadic grazing or limited farming has resulted in widespread desertification.” Social unrest flared up in Eastern Tibet again in early 2011 when monks began to set themselves on fire as a form of silent protest against what they view as political and religious represssion. A total of at least twenty Tibetans are believed to have self-immolated since then, most of them either former or current Buddhist monks & nuns. © Copyright 2007 Seth Butler. http://www.sethbutler.com

Tibetan Buddhism in the Social Landscape

Excerpt from Human Rights Watch China World Report 2012:

The situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and the neighboring Tibetan autonomous areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan province, remained tense in 2011 following the massive crackdown on popular protests that swept the plateau in 2008. Chinese security forces maintain a heavy presence and the authorities continue to tightly restrict access and travel to Tibetan areas, particularly for journalists and foreign visitors. Tibetans suspected of being critical of political, religious, cultural, or economic state policies are targeted on charges of “separatism.”

The government continues to build a “new socialist countryside” by relocating and rehousing up to 80 percent of the TAR population, including all pastoralists and nomads.

The Chinese government has given no indication it would accommodate the aspirations of Tibetan people for greater autonomy, even within the narrow confines of the country’s autonomy law on ethnic minorities’ areas. It has rejected holding negotiations with the new elected leader of the Tibetan community in exile, Lobsang Sangay, and warned that it would designate the next Dalai Lama itself.

In August Sichuan authorities imposed heavy prison sentences on three ethnic Tibetan monks from the Kirti monastery for assisting another monk who self-immolated in protest in March. Ten more Tibetan monks and one nun had self-immolated through mid-November, all expressing their desperation over the lack of religious freedom.

—Human Rights Watch

Excerpt from a JAN. 24, 2012 Statement by the Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero:

…I am gravely concerned by reports of violence and continuing heightened tensions in Tibetan areas of China, including reports of security forces in Sichuan province opening fire on protesters, killing some and injuring others.

These reports follow the self-immolation of four Tibetans earlier this month, bringing the number of reported self-immolations by Tibetans to 16—mostly monks and former monks, and two nuns—since March 2011…

…these policies include dramatically expanded Chinese government controls on religious life and practice; ongoing “patriotic education” campaigns within monasteries that require monks to denounce the Dalai Lama; the permanent placement of Chinese officials in monasteries; increasingly intensive surveillance, arbitrary detentions and disappearances of Tibetans; and restrictions on and imprisonment of some families and friends of self-immolators…

…We urge Chinese security forces to exercise restraint, and we renew our call to allow access to Tibetan areas of China for journalists, diplomats and other observers. We call on the Chinese government to resume substantive, results-oriented dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to address the underlying grievances of China’s Tibetan population… READ MORE

"The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery—not over nature but of..."

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:30:05 -0500

“The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate our mastery—not over nature but of ourselves.”

- Rachel Carson