The Narrative Image

Some would argue that the Earth (indeed the whole Universe) is so carefully fine-tuned for life that it makes the existence of a creator a foregone conclusion. It is an easy argument to buy into when a warm rain is falling and an untold number of small mouth bass are volunteering to jump into your canoe. But Douglas Adams points out, "This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in - an interesting hole I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, it's still frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather b...

I'll be honest with you. I've tried to pray. But I don't think I do it right because, while my part of the conversation can often be lengthy and verbose, I find that I'm always ending up supplying God's end of the conversation too...through fairly creative attribution. I can remember back to my college days when I got the phone call that informed me that my dad had finally succumbed to cancer and how I ventured out into the freezing cold night and climbed to the top of the bleachers at Lindstrom Field and beneath a heaven of harsh twinkling stars, concluded the conversation I'd maintained for several years regarding a possible healing miracle. I don't know what I was expecting...maybe an apology... maybe a pat on the back, or a hug.  I had to settle for the usual ambiguous silence. I'm always jealous of the Old Testament characters who actually got to talk to God. Here is part of a story about Elijah who is on the run (in fear for his life), and s...

I've struggled a long time trying to articulate a theme for pictures I take. I take pictures of landscapes, but I'm not a landscape photographer. I take pictures of nature... but that's so vague, one might as well say, "I take pictures." I take pictures because I want to be able to share what I've seen. And the pictures I'm most proud of are the ones that reveal something about how nature works. If this fellow is re-productively more successful than his counterparts, might our descendants one day share earth with bipedal beavers? An early candidate for a photography exhibition theme was a phrase that my friend Bernadette shared with me. She's a big fan of 'river dancing' but her enthusiasm for Irish step dancing, in particular, has gradually generalized to all things Celtic and the phrase she shared was, 'thin places'. "Heaven and earth, the Celtic saying goes, are only three feet apart, but in thin places that dis...

Announcing... "Earth's Crammed with Heaven." Showing at The Academy Theater Lobby during the month of July, 2013 7818 S.E. STARK ST. PORTLAND OR, 97215 See a movie for $4.00 and as a bonus, see scott's themed exhibition... FOR MORE DETAILS...  (PLEASE GO BACK IN TIME AND VISIT THE SHOW!)