# December



## The_Traveler

Critique always welcome


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## snowbear

I like it.  How have you been?


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## tirediron

Holy ****... Lew, where ya' been????

Interesting image; definitely gets me thinking; "Is she hurt?" "Is she ill?", "Is she face-palming because Lew did something...?"  I'd say that makes it a good image.


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## The_Traveler

snowbear said:


> I like it.  How have you been?


I hadn't much time for photography the last couple of years but I am hoping to remedy that now.
I have moved from MD to NY state for a few months while I travel and then plan to live in Manhattan for a year or so.
On Thursday, I'm going to Morocco for ~20 days, then back here for a couple of weeks and off to Thailand/Laos/Cambodia for a month. In January, Cuba for 10 days or so and somewhere tbd in February - maybe Turkey or Bosnia.

Lew


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## The_Traveler

tirediron said:


> Holy ****... Lew, where ya' been????
> 
> Interesting image; definitely gets me thinking; "Is she hurt?" "Is she ill?", "Is she face-palming because Lew did something...?"  I'd say that makes it a good image.



Probably the face-palming is the most likely but she was ill. 
My wife died in May after 18 months of rapid deterioration (Frontotemporal Degeneration) and I've sold my house, given away the contents and have nothing left but cameras, photos, some clothes and books. Everything fits in my mini-van and I'm free to go anywhere, do anything.


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## tirediron

Sooooooooo.... just a quick vacation, then?


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## waday

Like snowbear, I like this a lot. The conversion works nicely given the subject, and I like the framing. Very nice. 

The wife and I frequent NYC quite often. Maybe we can grab a coffee next time we come up?


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## tirediron

The_Traveler said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Holy ****... Lew, where ya' been????
> 
> Interesting image; definitely gets me thinking; "Is she hurt?" "Is she ill?", "Is she face-palming because Lew did something...?"  I'd say that makes it a good image.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably the face-palming is the most likely but she was ill.
> My wife died in May after 18 months of rapid deterioration (Frontotemporal Degeneration) and I've sold my house, given away the contents and have nothing left but cameras, photos, some clothes and books. Everything fits in my mini-van and I'm free to go anywhere, do anything.
Click to expand...

Damn, Lew, I'm very sorry to hear that!


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## jcdeboever

Who knew, it's lew, back in catman do. Sorry for your loss, I know it was a tough go. Love you man, glad your back.


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## SquarePeg

So sorry for your loss.  It must have been a very difficult time for you.    

Good to see you back sharing your work.


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## zulu42

I'm hoping your travels help to heal, or to cope, in some small way.

The image, with the back story, literally affects my heartbeat. Very powerful. Emotional. Shocking. Tragic.

Quiet thoughts for you and yours.


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## snowbear

Sorry to hear about your wife.  It sounds like you're doing well.  Maybe we can link up on one of my trips to/from Maine.


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## The_Traveler

Thank you all for your sympathies.
I really would like to meet any of you in NYC whenever you find your way there.
Just give me some bit of  notice.

I have other pictures I took for memory purposes and to illustrate a blog I wrote about taking care of someone with dementia.
Some of the pictures actually work quite well as 'photographs' and I would like to post them.

Since I don't want to get the reputation as too morbid for popular taste, I will just put the pictures in this thread unless there is some other suggestion.
Thanks again for the thoughts.

Lew


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## CherylL

So very sorry on the passing of your wife Lew.  Your photography blog has helped me and I enjoyed reading your critiques on the forum.  Safe travels.


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## The_Traveler

CherylL said:


> So very sorry on the passing of your wife Lew.  Your photography blog has helped me and I enjoyed reading your critiques on the forum.  Safe travels.



Thank you, Cheryl.
She died as gracefully as she lived.


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## paigew

So sorry for your loss.  You must be so thankful you have so many photographs to remember your time together. 

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk


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## otherprof

The_Traveler said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Holy ****... Lew, where ya' been????
> 
> Interesting image; definitely gets me thinking; "Is she hurt?" "Is she ill?", "Is she face-palming because Lew did something...?"  I'd say that makes it a good image.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably the face-palming is the most likely but she was ill.
> My wife died in May after 18 months of rapid deterioration (Frontotemporal Degeneration) and I've sold my house, given away the contents and have nothing left but cameras, photos, some clothes and books. Everything fits in my mini-van and I'm free to go anywhere, do anything.
Click to expand...

So sorry for your loss.


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## The_Traveler

paigew said:


> So sorry for your loss.  You must be so thankful you have so many photographs to remember your time together/QUOTE]
> 
> Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> otherprof said:
> 
> 
> 
> So sorry for your loss.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No problem, my fault not to have been clear about picture.
Click to expand...


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## terri

Very sorry to hear of your wife's passing, Lew.    My sympathies to you and yours.


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## Gary A.

The_Traveler said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Holy ****... Lew, where ya' been????
> 
> Interesting image; definitely gets me thinking; "Is she hurt?" "Is she ill?", "Is she face-palming because Lew did something...?"  I'd say that makes it a good image.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably the face-palming is the most likely but she was ill.
> My wife died in May after 18 months of rapid deterioration (Frontotemporal Degeneration) and I've sold my house, given away the contents and have nothing left but cameras, photos, some clothes and books. Everything fits in my mini-van and I'm free to go anywhere, do anything.
Click to expand...

My condolences Lew.  I am very sorry.  If your van ever makes it to the West Coast ... let’s hook up.


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## Gary A.

PS- Welcome back.


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## The_Traveler

Gary A. said:


> My condolences Lew.  I am very sorry.  If your van ever makes it to the West Coast ... let’s hook up.



Thank you for the offer, but just meeting for coffee would be enough.


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## Gary A.

Okay ... then coffee it is!  (I guess California is too liberal for many ... )


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## Gary A.

PPS- I, for one, would like to see all the photos.


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## The_Traveler

Gary A. said:


> Okay ... then coffee it is!  (I guess California is too liberal for many ... )



I have been outed as an old-fashioned kind of guy.


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## zulu42

I reacted strongly to this image, and story. There's something I also wanted to mention. As an art form, this is photography at its finest, in my opinion. Raw and honest expression of the most real part of life.

As a photograph I believe its merits hold up to the weight of its content. What a shot

Nominated Photo of the Month


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## Derrel

It's good to see you back, but a little sad to hear of your life's recent events. I think more photos here would be perfectly fine and welcome, and not morbid. Life's got tough moments, we know that. I hope your upcoming travels and adventures are good ones.


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## The_Traveler

zulu42 said:


> I reacted strongly to this image, and story. There's something I also wanted to mention. As an art form, this is photography at its finest, in my opinion. Raw and honest expression of the most real part of life.
> 
> As a photograph I believe its merits hold up to the weight of its content. What a shot
> 
> Nominated Photo of the Month



Thank you for the comment. It is very hard to be objective in this situation and I am happy that the photo resonated with you.




Derrel said:


> It's good to see you back, but a little sad to hear of your life's recent events. I think more photos here would be perfectly fine and welcome, and not morbid. Life's got tough moments, we know that. I hope your upcoming travels and adventures are good ones.



Thanks. I am currently in Barcelona airport waiting for a flight to Casablanca so I can't add other photos until I return after Oct 8. Actually I lost my connection in Barcelona and am now in small but lovely hotel in casablanca.


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## bulldurham

It is a very moving shot and I have many like it and I do not wish to appear to be insensitive to your loss, but an interesting observation if I may. In your photo page under "oldscans," almost every image you have posted shows a connection between the subject and the camera. While it's not always a direct connect, it is enough for the viewer to have an understanding of the context of the time, place or emotion. 

This image does not reflect the same emotional context to your wife as you show in your old scans of her. In this image you seemingly wanted to disassociate your connection to your wife, almost like you were hiding her. When my mother passed from dementia five years ago, I went back and looked at the pics I'd taken of her while she went through the stages of the illness and realized I'd done pretty much the same. I didn't take pictures of her when she had that totally lost look but rather shot in a manner so as if to hide the emotion. As a result, while there were some good times and some associative good shots during the time frame, I found most of them were more centered to how I hated the disease as it stole her memory of me, away.

I hope you have the bad time shots, too and that you post them as a part of the digression as that is the real story.


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## The_Traveler

It is a bizarre statement of the world that I am in the Morrocan desert and have a great signal from Google fi and can respond. 
You comment deserves a better answer than I can pick out with two fingers and I will try to get to answer later.


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## Warhorse

My condolences to you and your family sir.


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## The_Traveler

bulldurham said:


> As a result, while there were some good times and some associative good shots during the time frame, I found most of them were more centered to how I hated the disease as it stole her memory of me, away.
> 
> I hope you have the bad time shots, too and that you post them as a part of the digression as that is the real story.



Although my wife had the most benign variant of her disease and was a relatively wonderful patient until the very end, I could not/would not take shots that did not represent her at her best. I didn't want to show her to the world that way.
That is my failing, I know, but 36years of love and marriage created a duty of care.


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## bribrius

The_Traveler said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> 
> Holy ****... Lew, where ya' been????
> 
> Interesting image; definitely gets me thinking; "Is she hurt?" "Is she ill?", "Is she face-palming because Lew did something...?"  I'd say that makes it a good image.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably the face-palming is the most likely but she was ill.
> My wife died in May after 18 months of rapid deterioration (Frontotemporal Degeneration) and I've sold my house, given away the contents and have nothing left but cameras, photos, some clothes and books. Everything fits in my mini-van and I'm free to go anywhere, do anything.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that Lew, God with her. Deepest condolences. Grieve. Live the remainder you have the best you can.


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