Dear Friends,
When I started V&V back in 2012, I promised you this would be a sharing of
my creative process; well, here's a wonky page from my creative journal --
I created this issue's photograph with the help of A.I. Why?
Years ago, I had a significant dream in which I saw my foot, balanced on point in
a toe shoe - in a spotlight. When I thought about an image of balance for this
Spring Equinox V&V, that dream image, specifically, haunted me.
I typed a brief description into an A.I. image generator – some very wonky
results came back (including limbs that looked like they belonged to E.T.). Not
right – not even close. And yet – with my post-production work in Photoshop, I
was able to create this image that's eerily close to what I remember.
Why did I think of trying A.I.? I'm afraid of it. I needed to try it to
understand what I'm afraid of.
Here's what I remember from that dream that's not in this image: the sweat.
The full, heavy weight of a physical body - my own body – being hoisted up, balancing
on that little block of wood. You'll notice the point of the shoe in this
photo is soft, somewhat blurred. Not what I remember from that dream.
Here's what I learned from this experiment: I'm not selling my cameras. For
me, photographing lets me enter the world around me in exacting – almost
excruciating – detail.
I'm labeling this photo "The Still Point" -- A.I. generated photograph created
by Margaret McCarthy. The copyright issues around A.I. are raging amongst
artists and through the courts. Perhaps I should call this issue of V&V:
"Opening a Can of Worms on The Spring Equinox".
The poem is a haiku written by me in the classic 5-7-5 syllable form. No, I
don't know how well A.I. counts syllables. I didn't ask.
This week, I hope to catch my breath and re-connect to the balance that nature's
still point blesses us with.
Oh!
To be that poised…
What dancer in what past life?
Now I remember!
©photograph & text copyright Margaret McCarthy 2023
Once handed out on street corners, it seemed right to update the broadside* form for our electronic age's street corner - the web. Welcome to A VISION AND A VERSE, an e-Broadside. Four to six times a year, I'll showcase a featured image and poem of mine, matching them on a seasonal or timely theme.
A seasonal celebration and a sharing of my creative process, I hope you'll want to subscribe to future issues. Click here for a free subscription
Margaret McCarthy
*A broadside is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only. Historically, broadsides were posters, announcing events or proclamations, or simply advertisements. Today, broadside printing is done by many smaller printers and publishers as a fine art variant, with poems often being available as broadsides, intended to be framed and hung on the wall.
-From Wikipedia