drjoder

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<p>P.S. The mule idea is not a bad one if you are on either the Kaibab or Bright Angel Trails. Not sure if mules can be hired for other trails.</p> <p>Also, on food...consider using a large Ziploc for the ingredients of each meal. For each day, then, I'll have four Ziplocs: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks. There are ways to go light using supermarket foods if you explore the aisles. Or, if you have the budget, splurge on freeze-dried foods. Some folks even like to hike with at least one special item...say, a salmon filet and wine for the first night (extra weight!). As to serving size...when hiking, I usually eat somewhere around 3-4 normal "servings" of each menu item so don't believe it if the package says "serves four" and there are four of you--sometimes these are mere half cup servings.</p>

<p>One thing that isn't clear to me is whether someone else is carrying the rest of your overnight gear (like a mule, maybe?) and you are only carrying your photo gear and what you need while hiking. I know some trips down to Phantom Ranch are organized like this. If indeed you are carrying everything, you might take a look at this link (modify the kit to fit your needs, the season, etc.):<br> <a href="http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/15885/ultralight-backpacking-gear-list-2013/">http://blackwoodspress.com/blog/15885/ultralight-backpacking-gear-list-2013/</a><br> He has links to the different gear manufacturers he likes as well.<br> I am trying to figure out how to cut weight on overnight trips and still have the camera gear I want with me. It's tough. At some point I think I'll be dumping the set of bricks (DSLR and lenses) and go mirrorless.<br> Good luck on your trip! BTW, which trail(s) will you be on?</p>

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The famous "Keyhole" on Long's Peak, Colorado.<div></div>

<p>Thanks for lightening things up a bit, Alan! Good comments, all. It has been fun to read through the different perspectives.</p>

<p>My God, Julie, you need to write a novel or something. I busted a gut. Great imagination.</p> <p>My take: It is still your image...you were the "creative genius" behind it.</p>

<p>Anders, thanks for adding in some excellent additional information about Joan's approach and philosophy.</p> <p>One observation I would like to add, since we actually sat down next to "The Kiss" and watched for awhile, is the interesting human interactions it seemed to inspire. Typically, folks would look at it (and photograph it, of course!) from a distance, then they would generally go up and read the plaque which explains it a bit, then they would start examining the individual tiles to see what they were all about, before finally walking away. A five or ten-minute visit for most.</p> <p>A few couples would actually embrace and kiss one another after they have checked out the image...inspired, maybe!?</p> <p>One guy was very concerned with counting exactly how many tiles went into the collage---he counted up and across, then did the multiplication.</p> <p>I guess it is impossible to say on what level all these casual visitors were touched by this particular work. As David said in the post above, it didn't really turn his artistic crank and that could be true of many. But maybe there were others who were prompted to stop and think a bit more about what it all meant...all these apparently unconnected individual images and the whole that they had the potential to create.</p> <p>Finally, I have to say that I do like to see photography done in a public way now and then (although I certainly like my more "traditional", museum-framed B&W stuff, of course!). For example, I remember seeing, in Tucson, Arizona, photographs of animals writ large on some of the downtown buildings (the <a href="http://lensontheland.com/">Lens On the Land</a> photo project). And then there was the work of Chip Thomas on the Navajo Reservation which I found to be quite interesting (3-minute YouTube video <a href=" ).<br> </p>

<p>Thanks, Fred, for the opportunity to contribute a little something to this thread. I rarely contribute, but consider these weekly discussions one of the most valuable little corners of this Photo.net website and I read through each one. (Yep, a lurker.)</p> <p>Since we are currently in Barcelona, I figured a Catalan photographer might be in order and I initially was thinking of <a href="https://www.google.es/images?q=photographer+catalan+roca&hl=es&gbv=2&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ei=bsrUU_39HbOX0QX13IH4Dg&ved=0CBQQsAQ">Francesc Catala Roca</a>...BUT, I decided to go with someone who is still alive and actively producing work. Thus, this week's image: "The Kiss" by Joan Fontcuberta, a large piece of installation art put up just this month on a wall in a small plaza in Barcelona. (Full name of the work: "The world begins with every kiss.")</p> <p>There is a very short article about this particular work, with a couple of small pictures, <a href="http://barcelonacultura.bcn.cat/en/discover/joan-fontcuberta-presents-%E2%80%9C-world-begins-every-kiss%E2%80%9D">HERE</a> and you can see a 2 1/2 minute YouTube video of the image at <a href=" LINK</a>. (You only need to watch the first 30 seconds to 1 minute to get the idea.)</p><p>Fontcuberta's body of work covers a very wide range--he tends to concentrate on specific "projects" and they can be very, very different and they can use many different media. So, this one image is barely representative of what he does. (I assume, though, for our purposes we will focus on this one image I have offered up.) If you are curious for more, try Googling his name along with Fauna, Sputnik, Constellations, Frontal Nude, or Googlegrams. You can also go to his website <a href="http://www.fontcuberta.com/">HERE</a> (English, Catalá or Castellano). His Wikipedia entry in English can be found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Fontcuberta">HERE</a>.</p> <p>Some quick background on the artist...He is 59 years old and a teacher, writer, art promoter, and photographer. He was born in Barcelona and continues to live there and teaches Audiovisual Communications Studies at one of the universities. He has won numerous awards throughout Europe, has been exhbited at MOMA in New York (1988), and in 2013 he won the 2013 Hasselblad Award. He is also a co-founder of PhotoVision Magazine.</p> <p>By way of a quote (my translation) from Fontcuberta to further our understanding:<br> "All photography is a fiction that presents itself as truth. Contrary to what we have been taught, contrary to what we often think, photography always lies, it lies from instinct, it lies because its nature doesn't allow it to do anything else. But the important thing is not that the lie is inevitable, the important thing is how it is used by the photographer, to what intention it serves. The important thing, in sum, is the control exercised by the photographer to impose an ethical direction/purpose to his/her lie. The good photographer is one who lies well about the truth." [interesting last sentence!]</p> <p>To help stimulate some thoughts, here are some ideas:<br> --What is the purpose of his kind of photography? Photography in general? This particular work?<br> --Does "The Kiss" do anything for you or not? Do you think it works for you? Why or why not?<br> --How to decide upon and pursue photographic "projects". What about public photographic projects?<br> --The merits (or not) of outdoor/public installation photographic art.<br> --Alternative ways to display photographic work.<br> --Use of other people´s images to make a larger piece of art. (He did it in Googlegrams, too.)<br> --Opinions on the last sentence in the quote above.<br> --Whatever else comes to your mind...<br> Thanks!<br> DanJ</p>

<p>Glad for your good luck! I found a video online that showed how to do the tether thing, step-by-step, so that is what I did. Definitely a good idea. I also love the BR strap system.</p>