Words + Images

sparkling like diamond dust

Cynthia — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:11:48 +0000

A friend recently invited me to attend a one-woman, autobiographical play called “Sugar” that focuses on diabetes and race. As I read about the play, I kept telling myself that I had no personal connection to sugar aside from the couple teaspoons I put in my coffee in the mornings. But in seeing the play, I was reminded that, as an African American woman of southern heritage, I do indeed have connections to the sweetener. Mostly warm memories …

When I was a child, my mother used to keep sugar in a clear glass dish on the kitchen table. When the sun hit the dish just right, the white sugar crystals inside sparkled like diamond dust. My dad used to add several heaping teaspoons to his very small cup of coffee. Often there would be a layer of caramel-colored syrup left in the bottom of the cup. I sometimes spooned it out and ate it as if it were coffee-flavored candy.

A small box of brown sugar was kept in a cabinet but it was rarely pulled out except during the holidays to make candied yams and various pies. Confectionary or powdered sugar was used on occasion to make frostings until my mom decided she’d splurge on Duncan Hines.

In college I learned that sugar was more varied than I had ever imagined and that it was especially cool to eat raw sugar.

I want to continue researching sugar, out of curiosity, and to see if perhaps I do have my own story to tell about the substance. Meanwhile, I think I shall enjoy photographing the small particles in all its many forms.

Color Close-ups

Cynthia — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:18:01 +0000

Here are a few close-ups of light at different angles on the CD shown in the prior post.

Lights Colors Action

Cynthia — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:01:48 +0000

The morning began as planned. I warmed a cup of coffee. I sat down at my desk ready to tackle the writing projects that I knew would keep me at the computer most of the day. I just happened to look over my shoulder out the window. Just to pause, ever so briefly, in appreciation of the morning sun.

I did not expect to see sunlight playing upon the surface of a CD. Nor did I expect to see bright colors bouncing around the wall amidst an array of silhouettes, shadows and reflections. But I’m glad I did.

So began one of the most unexpected photography shoots I have experienced in a long time.

Just chasing the light across a thin silvery disc…

… and charting its expression in bands of color on a pale wall.

Pale Petals Catching Light

Cynthia — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:54:57 +0000

Not One But Five Tomatoes

Cynthia — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:21:41 +0000

But the One Series continues to grow here.

The Paperwork Continues …

Cynthia — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:31:15 +0000

More “paperwork” viewable here.

Just A Little Blue Feather

Cynthia — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:27:14 +0000

in blacks and whites and all the shades of gray

Cynthia — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:00:20 +0000

Cut Flowers

Parsley

Branches in the Frame and on the Wall

The Oak Tree in Morning Silhouette

and in evening’s light, reflections of nature in glass

Cynthia — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:39:45 +0000

I saw and photographed the reflection …

… before I turned to look over my shoulder and photograph the real thing.

Feathers On Ice

Cynthia — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:01:05 +0000

As coffee brews in the morning, I find myself doing a quick scan of the windows to see the patterns of ice that have formed in the night. Usually my attention is focused just on the windows, the ice crystals and the slow movement of light across the sky.

This morning, my eyes fell upon the white feather, an item I have photographed many times before.

It sits in a shallow dish on the window sill of my writing nook. Today I noticed that its delicate barbs almost touched the nearby pane. If it had, would it have been frozen as well?

Both infused and illuminated by sunlight, and juxtaposed against the growing blue of the sky and the sparkling crystals of the melting ice, well … the color-filled scene was near magical.

Still, after a while, I found myself switching to black and white on the camera. Just to see what would happen. I’m glad I did.