Archive for: Photos

Jason Bentsman
Vanishing

Jason Bentsman writes: ‘I’ve been taking photos for many years now, both analogue and digital, and started sharing them with the world fairly recently. Due to mindfulness in the pursuit, my output is relatively small. Nonetheless, at this point, I’ve amassed a meaningful body of work. In my photos generally I try to capture that which cannot be captured, which is to say, the transcendent. I find this much more of an intuitive than a rational process. This particular photo was taken on a caliginous day, during a blinding rainstorm, while in the passenger seat of a car. It seems to quintessentially capture the feeling of vanishing movement on the highway under such conditions.’

Jason Bentsman, Vanishing, photograph, 2023

Jim Ross
Fridays for Future: Ambassadors of Conscience

Jim Ross writes: ‘I used a Panasonic Lumix camera (an entry-level SLR) from a fifth-row aisle seat, right next to the scrummage of reporters, who piled on top of each other in the aisle to take this photo. The event took place on 16 December 2019 in the Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in Washington DC. It was sponsored by Amnesty International to honour the 2019 Ambassadors of Conscience, Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future Movement.
      The Ambassador of Conscience award is Amnesty’s highest honour. Its purpose is to “celebrate individuals and groups who have furthered the cause of human rights by acting on their conscience, confronting injustice and using their talents to inspire others.” Given annually, it has honoured individuals such as Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Joan Baez, Harry Belafonte, and Alicia Keyes. Occasionally, it has honoured movements, such as the Indigenous rights movement in Canada.

Jim Ross, Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award Presentation 2019, photograph, 2019

      Amnesty’s initial intent was to give the 2019 award to Thunberg as the founder of Fridays for Future. However, at her insistence, Amnesty agreed to give the award to Fridays for Future at a more grassroots level. These awards were given simultaneously to Fridays for Future in cities around the globe as Thunberg received her award in Washington DC. Five other American students and one Canadian student received the award on stage alongside Thunberg. Pictured here are Kallan Benson, who was greatly involved in coordinating Fridays for Future in the United States, Thunberg, and Kumi Naidoo, then Secretary-General of Amnesty International.
      Upon receiving the award, Thunberg said: “This award is for all of those millions of people, young people, around the world who together make up the movement called Fridays for Future. All these fearless youth are fighting for their future, a future they should be able to take for granted. But as it looks now, they cannot.”
      My reporting of this event led to a major article, accompanied by 15 photos, in the December 2019 issue of Friends Journal and another in the March 2020 issue of UU World.’   AQ

Jim Hodge
Moth on a Step

As with most things in the life of a hypomanic and formally diagnosed ADHD mind, poetry, black & white photography, and music have all acted as balms in my life, grabbing my attention, whispering to my ears and calling on my eyes to slow down, notice and be intentionally present—to momentarily exit the whitewater currents of daily life, to pull the kayak ashore, look downstream, and merely float in the beauty of the world. They are the equivalent of a stop, drop, and roll to extinguish the bonfires of the mind. The photo of a ‘Moth on a Cement Step’, as well as the poem, came to life on the same day, July 3, 2022. This digital photo was taken on an iPhone 5.

Jim Hodge Moth on a Cement Step, photograph, 2022

Susan E. Lloy
Prospect, Nova Scotia

The ocean is many things to many people, but for me it is home. It’s a dream place I visit, if I’m fortunate, once a year. Prospect is where I hiked with my late father, who sketched and painted this slice of land, where the wild Atlantic spars with the rocky shore. Its wide expanse is where spirits are rejuvenated and worries washed away with each tide.
       When I write fiction settings on the sea, this majestic point is where I imagine my characters walking and observing, where their souls are awakened, as well as my own. This photo was shot with an iPhone 7.

Susan E. Lloy, Prospect, Nova Scotia, photograph, 2022