This beautiful statue stands on the grounds of one of the most beautiful villa‘s in Italy. She longingly stares out across Lago Como, waiting. The canopy tree keeps her shaded in the hot Italian sun. She is beautiful, surrounded in luxury, but strikes me as so utterly alone.
I can’t say I fully understand the intricacies of Chinese Astrology. I think I know two things:
When I visited Kowloon’s Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple the place was packed…I walked in shoulder to shoulder with other tourists and worshipers. There wasn’t a clear shot of much so I focused on close-up work. You know…creativity is an attribute of both the Rabbit AND Pisces!
Everywhere you go in Kyoto, there are shrines, temples and gardens. I can’t think of a place I went that didn’t have at least one or more of the three…sometimes all three at the same time! It is said Kyoto has over 2000 shrines and temples from small to exquisitely grand (in a zen way of course). Just walking down the sidewalk, I found this little temple. I said Buddha in my title, but perhaps a Bodhisattva or some other early divine person. With so many places to pray, it is sometimes hard for a western walker to know where they stand, but I think that is perfectly Japanese.
A quick photo for today, but one that I hope illustrates the importance of keeping a sharp eye out! If I was hurrying, I would have missed this statue of the Lion of Singapore enshrouded in the jungle-like fauna of The Garden by the Bay in Singapore. The lion is everywhere in Singapore, sometimes hiding even in plain sight!
I said the other day I wanted to bring photos to the blog that evoke the feeling of a place, rather than its plain reality. Wat Pho temple is another world…Thailand itself is another world. The heat and humidity are unlike other hot places I have visited. The weather adds a weight that I found extremely difficult to bear. Everything seems a bit more difficult moving in the powerful sun when its 90% humidity and over 90 degrees! Today’s photo is part of a hall of a large courtyard surrounded by these golden Buddha statues. It is quite interesting standing in the heat, complaining, while the enlightened ones sit calmly, cool as can be.
I walked into the Buddha Tooth Relic Shrine to find a sea of Buddha’s covering the walls. To say thousands of statues might be underestimating. Within all of the chaos, the chants, bells, people and prayers, this single Buddha stood out to me, a beacon. It was small, perhaps 8-12 inches, but nothing in the huge hall shone brighter. Perhaps a divine message.
My goal here is to bring you photos that evoke how a place felt. I try and recall back my mood and experience, the sights and smells, the passion, the pain. Most of the time I feel I fail utterly, this time…this time I pray you feel this statues power too.
My time in Bali was relaxing. As I was leaving I saw this lonely Hindu statue meditating. I almost didn’t stop to take this photo, but for some reason it was the first I remembered while traveling home and one of the first I processed. I’m not sure why honestly. The statue just seemed at peace and I was on the move, headed to another place, while it wisely sat. Maybe that is why it grabbed me…Bali seemed to as a whole say to me, slow down.
I said last week I sometimes travel just for one photo. The great thing is you find so much more along the way, but often singular things capture my imagination and pull me to them with some great unseen force. I saw another rendition of this scene on a travel website when I knew I was going to Milan. I was looking for things in and around the great fashion capitol to do and Lago Como caught my fancy purely BECAUSE of this scene.
The statue looks over the most lovely vista at Villa Balbianello and gestures; to the surroundings and almost to the heavens. He seems to say, perhaps here, they are the same. Italy is a long way to travel to see the view of an old statue. I stood in this spot, sat in this spot for hours, the warm sun penetrating the biting cold April Lake Como wind. I thought of all places I have been and seen; I agreed with the statue.
We had a pretty lucky trip to London, England. In the midst of September, somehow we found sun! We didn’t have much in the way of the stariotypical cold, cloudy, foggy weather just a bunch wonderfully crisp fall sunny days.
We ended up at Buckingham Palace sometime in the early afternoon. The sun was strong and the tourists were out in full force on the plaza to gawk at the Queen’s Guard in all their sternness. I don’t like it when people mess with the guard…it’s so terribly disrespectful (plus I am pretty sure those guys can break pretty much anyone they needed to in half). I made my way to the Victoria Memorial and it was covered with tourists soaking all the strong sun. I looked up and thought what a better backlight for Victoria then the Sun itself.
Happy Ground Hog Day everyone! Let’s hope for a cloudy day in PA today!
It’s funny…all of the photos of my overnight stay in Vienna are in black and white! I never intend it and I am purposefully working on a very colorful and fun photo for Thursday to show a different side of the city. This photo Poseidon on the streets of Vienna, however, HAD to be noir. Vienna and night, black and white, it all seems to flow perfectly in my mind.
