Any interest in a simple Photo thread?

[3dogs]

in 1957 I volunteered to work in the dental clinic on the Navajo reservation at Fort Defiance, Arizona, and lived on the reservation for three months. The medical intake form had two check boxes for religion - Catholic and Protestant. A sick patient might come into the hospital on one occasion and check "Catholic". Months or years later the same patient would possibly check "Protestant". Generally they had exhausted all use of tribal medicine before recognizing they were sick enough to come to the hospital. Several Christian religious groups had established small medical or social service facilities across this reservation. At that time, most of the Navajos had still held on to their native religious practices. Although there had been considerable effort to convert them, western religion was foreign to what they knew and practiced. Their connection to nature and their surroundings played an integral part of their spiritual feelings.

I was a young 23 year old and anxious to learn as much as I could of their culture. There was one particular hospital worker with whom I spoke quite often. In response to my many questions his answers were quite brief. Finally, at one point, he said, "white people ask too many questions". His intention was friendly and not to be rude. He recognized, as @3dogs so eloquently wrote, that the European American would probably not understand the depth of spiritual values that his answers might convey.

Nonetheless, he and his wife took me out to his home (a traditional Hogan) and invited me to ride his horses. Before the invasion of pickup trucks on the reservation, Horses were the one thing in the Navajo matriarchal family that men unequivocally owned. I took this as a sign of acceptance in spite of my questions that he so politely rebuffed!

I visited the USA in 1981, was based in Houston Tx but spent a lot of time down at San Antonio.
My dream of dreams was to meet either Sioux or Navajo. Their cultures resonate so strongly that in extreme adversity or stress I resort to chant rhythm and beat I have no idea where it came from but it started when I was very young , about 10 TV was new and a Desert Nation Chief visited and was interviewed, as part of his welcome he performed a bit of a smoke chant of healing as he was a healer...the sound and beat took a hold on me like an old friend...it takes me where I need to go. If you understand this, one of his Kind is my Guide now.

Fella I worked with at The Dow Centre in Houston is/was a fullblood Sioux and I was thinking that my dream was about to come true.
He and his Wife lived on an estate built around a golf course, his passion, neither he nor any of his immediate family had ever been on a reservation, and did all they could to avoid being identified with his heritage......they were converts see, Stolen Generation....He was about to retire and I was just 34. As the evening progressed it was clear that his Spirit had no HOME he was cut adrift and my fast held dream evaporated into sorrow.

Coupla days later I was sitting in a Bar at the Hotel where I was staying. An African American sat down next to me saying that he had seen me around the Dow centre and knew I was an Aussie and wanted to have a chat. In the process of breaking the ice for the conversation to progress I asked what he did in Dow.... With extreme sadness and deep resentment he stated that he was an Uncle Tom, a token black singled out to be fast tracked through the organisation. He was a bitter man, but worse was to come when I told him I was brought up and educated in Rhodesia he got up and simply said " Racist " .....and walked away without further ado.

So, you were indeed blessed with acceptance, what an experience to carry with you.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

when I told him I was brought up and educated in Rhodesia

Hi Andrew,

Your statement about Rhodesia resonated with me. It is where I grew up and was educated. My weird accent is often mistaken for Australian or New Zealand. I explain it away as English Colonial.

Where were you and when in Rhodesia? From your postings I am guessing you were part of the small and close knit farming community.

RS

 

[Emulator]

Difficult to help you unless you tell us what services are using resources and by how much when the computer is at idle and/or you notice something different going on.


Unless there is a problem with your SSD, then the culprit is most likely an app or driver which need to be closed before the computer can be shut down. Updating applications, including Windows and your BIOS, may resolve the issue. Some settings for Windows may be the culprit, like Page File.

Hopefully the following links can help:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-taking-forever-shut-try/
http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/227117-slow-shut-down.html

I also suggest you download, install and run the free Malewarebytes Anti-Maleware program.

Thanks stratman, I have installed the free version of Malwarebytes, (which I used to use on earlier computers), ran a scan, which came up with 22 files of SLIMWARE which were removed. Quite where they came from I don't know. The other procedures require a considerable amount of thought and understanding.

Unfortunately this has not cured the problem, which flashes up the Windows advisory screen regarding programs closing for about a second, before the shutdown. Not really a problem, more an irritation, as it did not do this before.

 

[stratman]

22 files of SLIMWARE which were removed.

Slimware seems to be part of a program called DriverUpdate that gets aggressive in its sales pitch and data collection. While not technically a virus, it can be a PITA according to a couple of web pages I read.

More about DriverUpdate: http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/DriverUpdate-11416-program.aspx and http://blog.mitechmate.com/uninstall-driverupdate-by-slimware/

The following link may add some perspective and options to rid Slimware and improve performance: http://botcrawl.com/remove-driver-update-virus/. Note the link suggests CCleaner, another great piece of free software. Google "Slimware virus" for more

 

[3dogs]

Hi Andrew,

Your statement about Rhodesia resonated with me. It is where I grew up and was educated. My weird accent is often mistaken for Australian or New Zealand. I explain it away as English Colonial.

Where were you and when in Rhodesia? From your postings I am guessing you were part of the small and close knit farming community.

RS

Finally exited from Bulawayo in 1965, but lived in many small towns all the way up the Railway line to Macheki as my Father and Mother were both ex Service, and unable to stay in any one place for long.
Went to Milton in Bulawayo, left school in 1963 and went into the BSAP!!
Spent most of my free time in and around the Matopos. Some memorable times at Gatooma, Marandellas, Shabani, Rusapi and man many more.
Remember - Bok bok, keneky and British Bulldogs?

 

[fotofreek]

...My dream of dreams was to meet either Sioux or Navajo. Their cultures resonate so strongly that in extreme adversity or stress I resort to chant rhythm and beat I have no idea where it came from but it started when I was very young , about 10 TV was new and a Desert Nation Chief visited and was interviewed, as part of his welcome he performed a bit of a smoke chant of healing as he was a healer...the sound and beat took a hold on me like an old friend...it takes me where I need to go. If you understand this, one of his Kind is my Guide now...

Much food for thought and for a continued conversation on tribal rootedness and the consequences of its disruption. As to the healing service of chanting and drumming, I did have the opportunity to experience this first hand when living on the Navajo reservation.

My dental assistant and translator was a Navajo woman. She once asked me if I'd like to come to a "squaw dance" the next night. These events were publicized by word-of-mouth and were rather spontaneous. Turns out that they were often a "healing" event. For example they would be for when someone who was sick had recovered or a community member who had gone away from the reservation to the "white world" for some time and had returned. It involved men drumming and chanting, and people doing a circle dance, much like one would see in Greece, Arabic countries, or Israel. My dental assistant asked me if I'd like to join the dance and taught me the very simple, rhythmic step. There was a food truck with fry-bread and cooked mutton available to purchase. I was able to go to three of four of these events during my stay on the reservation.

The drumming, chanting, and dance appear to be akin to reciting a mantra. Repetitive prayers in western religious practice may serve a similar purpose that is as important as, if not more important than, the content of the prayer itself. In a certain sense it can serve as both personal and tribal grounding. Drumming, chanting, dance, and repetitive prayer can have a hypnotic effect that brings one back to an elemental, soothing place. Many people in our western culture have little understanding of the spiritual side of the human psyche.

Although this conversation with @3dogs is off topic for a printer forum, it is very interesting for me to know about the people with whom we interact. In a similar vein, it is refreshing to be in a forum that has frequent bursts of humor from @The Hat and several others.

 

[3dogs]

We are in the right place for off topic, if in fact it is. How often does one get the opportunity to look at images and also get an insight into the drivers behind the person that made the picture.
Some images are technical photocopies of a subject, where it is pretty clear that the shooter is trying to convey their skill level in the medium.

It is rare indeed to have images put up and also get a narrative, and more unusual still to be given an insight into the values of the shooter that have a direct impact on the very personal motivations that drove its birth.
I am saddened when I look around at the cameras and lenses available to many Club Members, their top shelf processing tools and their dead passionless, pointless output. Where the high point of an image of a flower is its sharpness and orderly symmetry and colour for an example.

I have ventured out into the area of narrative with considerable trepidation but plenty of conviction. Many people new to photograph and printing struggle to get past the Happy Snap, Family Album of questionable technical and artistic content because folks like me are reluctant to hold themselves up to ridicule and derision for their words and thoughts.
In the time I have been contributing my narrative has been more creative than technical and that position seems to have reached a point of acceptance/ tolerance where I feel comfortable with the feedback given to me. Were that not the case I would be silent on stuff outside the mainstream 'safe'.

If just one of my epistles opens a creative door for just one reader of this forum, and they venture outside their own comfort zone and begin to understand that it is OK to express, its ok to experiment with trying to tell a story or even read into it a bit of how to get themselves to that place because you and I swap experiences that shaped us, thereby shaping our approach in photography and printing - have we not actually achieved PRINTERKNOWLEDGE in an area that is rarely covered, where there are no books and no tutorials.....

I believe this thread has actually stumbled into a thread of merit and has (I believe) sanctioned creative experimental, expressive and rewarding tries in the weeks ahead.

Initially I did regret waffling on, but now I don't. We don't need too much of it but just a little peek into motivation and the creative core of what photography can also be about I think very much has a place in this Forum.
I for one value that greatly.

 

[The Hat]

have we not actually achieved PRINTERKNOWLEDGE in an area that is rarely covered, where there are no books and no tutorials.....

Well said 3dogs..

Any interest in a simple Photo thread?

Pictures with words, so yes please may it continue…

 

[fotofreek]

Quoting @3dogs: "have we not actually achieved PRINTERKNOWLEDGE in an area that is rarely covered, where there are no books and no tutorials....."

Well said 3dogs..
Pictures with words, so yes please may it continue…

I'll repeat @The Hat's post - Well said @3dogs! We move into the "why" to add to the "how" of what we shoot for (pun intended).

 

[Roy Sletcher]

Finally exited from Bulawayo in 1965, but lived in many small towns all the way up the Railway line to Macheki as my Father and Mother were both ex Service, and unable to stay in any one place for long.
Went to Milton in Bulawayo, left school in 1963 and went into the BSAP!!
Spent most of my free time in and around the Matopos. Some memorable times at Gatooma, Marandellas, Shabani, Rusapi and man many more.
Remember - Bok bok, keneky and British Bulldogs?

All Familiar names. I was in Salisbury (Now Harare) and went to Prince Edward High School. Left in 1966. Political storm clouds on the horizon, and I had a young family by then. Was castigated as a chicken, and coward by my contemporaries. Strange times!!
Bounced around a few places before finally ending up in Canada in 1977. Was a grueling process to immigrate to Canada in those days, and Australia was probably next stop if Canadians rejected my application.

"Remember - Bok bok, keneky and British Bulldogs?" - Yes indeed. Those were the days.

RS