Well, tonight was the Open House for the NWHPC Portfolio Review. The Review portion will be Thursday night. Everything went well even though I almost backed out at the last moment--as I usually do.
I mean, when your portfolio consists of eight photographs of dead fish you are on somewhat shaky ground but it seemed to be fairly well received. One member, called me aside and said that when he looked at the photographs he saw dead fish but when he read the artist statement it seemed to be talking about humans. He was correct in both instances. The photographs are metaphorical--they are fish but what they are depicting--the process of dying--is shared by all living creatures, including humans. That may be a reach for some people.
George Barr said that photographers are masters of illusion but too often we fall victim to our own illusions. I think that happens when a photographer can only see a photograph as what is depicted, a common error. Well maybe it is not an error, but a different way of looking at photographs. Many of my photographs are not metaphorical but many are. Of the two I prefer the ones that are. I feel they have the most value.
I will probably post the portfolio tomorrow along with the artist statement.
We always go out to dinner after a meeting and tonight we tried a new restaurant that just opened. For some reason the club always goes to a Mexican restaurant. I love Mexican food but I am not so happy with wait staff that can't converse in English and worst of all bands and loud noise. I was not impressed with the menu to begin with then I read all their rules like the added gratuity, the fact that they charged a $1.50 surcharge for each ticket that was split and would not split tickets for groups of more than eight people--that always leads to someone feeling like they are getting the raw end of the deal when you try to divide up the ticket for sixteen or more people. Then they started a birthday celebration at the table behind me with a loud noise that sounded like the table had collapsed--that was it for me. I excused myself and said that I was leaving. Embarrassed Alcy to death. For that I am sorry but I have no intentions of putting up with such a customer unfriendly atmosphere. I had been served a coke which I had not started and I like to never found anyone that knew how much I owed for a coke. I can assure you of one thing, I had no intentions of paying a $1.50 to have my ticket split from the remainder of the group. The waitress did not speak English so she had to go the the manager. Alcy and I left. On the way home I got a call that the rest of the group had left and were at a restaurant up on 1960. By that time Alcy and I were half way downtown and did not want to turn around.
Many years ago, yes I know I have told this story many times, there as a book published How Not to Be a Wimp. Janet read me the book review in the Houston Chronicle. Afterwards she said many times that she was really glad that was all that she did. She said she would never have been able to live with me if I ever got hold of the entire book. I do not put up with less than satisfactory service. Alcy has had to walk off a number of times because I embarrassed her. Being a Yankee, she has that don't say anything to offend attitude. I didn't get that. If I am offended by the service I will say what is necessary to express that including leaving the restaurant. Apparently up north they do it differently best I can tell.
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