Hat Rack Geisha. 2006

This reminded me Randy Newman's song You can leave your hat on (the hooks provided). I see you are diving deep in your archives... how does it feel? Forgive my curiosity: would you estimate how many pics you have shot during these PN years?

Anyway I want to thank you for your priceless support during this year. My best wishes for these days of Christmas and next year 2016.

great fun Sensei, a terrific wall piece. I mean i wouldn’t soon tire looking at this one --- the great balance irresistible wit and subtext would keep on keeping me amused!

In your neverending quest for the offbeat, unique, bizarre, funny, etc. - you must be credited for the discovery of an animal species never before found or identified - the geisha, two-hatted, antelope.  I'm pretty sure that this species' usual habitat is urban, but I wonder whether it can be found in wilderness areas as well.  Great find!    

Thanks, guys for taking the time to comment. This is a stellar group for sure.

Markku - Like you, I enjoy discovering the surreal side of the real world. I've been going back through my pictures from the beginning, probably between 30-40,000 photos that I've saved for one reason or another. The actual number I've shot is much larger of course, maybe up to half a million. (I was a clicking fool at the beginning and still am sometimes) This is obviously an unwieldy number, like waking up after a long sleep and finding an immense jungle has grown up around you. Nothing to do but get out the machete and start hacking a trail through the rain forest. It's interesting to discover some old nuggets along the way along with great stretches of fool's gold. I swear, I'm a kind of image packrat. It's going to take me months to turn the trackless Amazon into Golden Gate Park (my home park in San Francisco which is also the largest man-made park in the world). Best wishes to you over the holidays. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing just what kind of magic you'll come up with in the coming year

Carlos - Yeah, I really have an appreciation for the comical and the surreal. The world itself is pretty comical and surreal nowadays though everyone seems to take it with both deadly seriousness and a feeling of resignation. The older I get, the less sense it all makes. I like pictures that do a little da-dum number on your brain, you know the kind that temporarily shorts out the numbingly routine flow of neurons that keeps us fast asleep, the shots that cause people to frown and wonder "why in hell did he take that?" Sometimes I feel like a kid who went to the circus and accidentally wandered into the side shows and found himself surrounded by the weirdest collection of geeks, freaks and fast-talkin' carnival barkers imaginable. enticing you in to come on in and see Little Egypt or out in the midway selling snake oil to the rubes. Look no farther than Donald Trump if you think I'm exaggerating. Finally, when it comes to your own pictures, if you don't interest and amuse yourself, who else are you aiming for?

Michael - As one explorer to another, thanks for the recognition and support. I think the worst thing an artist (in the broadest sense) can do is settle for that which he already knows and understands. The fun is all about the quest and not the destination. Destinations get pretty old pretty fast for people like me (and you, too, I presume).

It is already Christmas in japan and here in Candiac Quebec it will be another 6 hours. In the meantime, we had balmy record breaking temperatures and no snow on the ground. Global warming? They say Adam and Eve wore no clothes so it must have been hot as hell (heaven?) back then. So much for the theory (hypothesis?) of Global Warming.

My immediate reaction to your image was two male symbols and a female image and if truth be told, I did not get any further - perhaps those males were the exception and further verbal intercourse is not necessary. 

Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I think there are several kinds of images, coming down mainly to perhaps three types. The first is the simple representational image: a lovely view, an interesting building or street scene, a pure portrait. These are all self explanatory and depend on the technical and compositional skill of the photographer. The second is the interpretive image, that which intends to convey a message or story. Whether the perception is the same as the intention is not important. The important point is that a statement or point of view particular to the photographer is supposed and the explanation can be rationally verbalized. The third type is the picture that falls into the realm of the surreal or is a moment of pure serendipity, which may or may not evoke a sudden spark of recognition, amusement or emotional reaction but, by its nature, is intended to bypass the rational apparatus and slip through the net of meaning. I think this photo falls in that category.

I realize that groupings like this aren't mutually exclusive and tend to morph into one another but this is just an idle musing over coffee and nothing remotely definitive. Obviously, I haven't thought this through completely and I'm sure people will come up with other categories and exceptions but anyway that's what has been rattling around in my brain this Christmas morning. Happy holidays, Tony. Regards, Jack

Dear Jack,

Thank you for continuing to be here and for submitting images like this.

I've looked at this images a couple of times during the day.. and at night. Without actually trying to understand (or, categorize) it. The good thing is that I found myself looking at it just to to see it again. I should perhaps mention the upward arrow at lower left as a funnily important part of the image. My thoughts wandered... Who were the owners of the hats? Youngsters or not? Or, whether the hats belonged to the same person... Is this within a house or a public place? Was the picture drawn in a previous century... by whom... to say what...

And, I was not really interested in finding the answers. I was happy asking the questions. Really enjoying my time.

The comments were the bonus! Read them twice! Perhaps I should also re-read Cioran's book again soon; if life seems this much enjoyable something must have gone really, really wrong with my interpretative apparatus.

I hope you continue doing your magic.