After a combination of wind and currents drove floating algae into one corner of a San Bernard Refuge pond, it smoothed the edges, creating a noticeable separation between the mass of algae and the clearer pond water.
The sight reminded me of photos of Earth taken from space. In those images, the oceans’ blues predominate. Here, the green of an imaginary planet suggests the beauty of life and growth in a ‘world’ formed by unseen forces.
Not long after I published my color image of this landmark on Trinity Bay, I received an email from photographer and friend Steve Gingold. It included this reprocessed version of the photo, and a few words:
Forgive me…
The strong contrast and those beautiful clouds, I just had to…
The changes he made to the photo opened my eyes to the virtues of black-and-white photography in a new and visceral way. To put it simply, while my color version of the chapel would make a nice postcard, this is a photograph, and an invitation to a new way of seeing.
The association raised by the words of his email was equally delightful. They brought to mind William Carlos Williams’s famous poem titled “This is Just to Say”:
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the iceboxand which
you were probably
saving
for breakfastForgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Uncounted parodies of his poem have appeared over the years, and it seems appropriate to add this one to the mix.
I have changed
the color
that was in
your photoand which
you probably
preferred
in the endForgive me
this seems delicious
so strong
and so bold
Lagniappe 