There are some interesting additions to the "other Places" gallery. I recently unearthed some archived images taken on a January-term course I took at St. Lawrence University in 1972. The idea of the course was to learn about archeology being conducted at that time in the Middle East, primarily in Israel, but also in Greece and Italy.
I'm adding them in this section for a couple of reasons. First of all, this was one of the most challenging, and rewarding courses I took in college. The research paper I produced for the class is the only paper I kept after graduation. The paper centered on construction of walls and fortifications of cities in pre-Christian era Israel. I documented my research with photos, 4 seen here.
When I looked at the seven images as a group, it struck me that they represented times and places of five different cultures and religions. At the same time, I think (hope) they convey the continuing significance and importance of these places a couple of thousand years later. These is something consoling in that thought.
Locations depicted:
Temple Mount, (Al Aqsa Mosque), Jerusalem, with 3 girls. Wonder where they are now? (color photo). I've made thousands of images over many years. I love the story here, and count this as one of my favorite images ever.
Temple Mount, (Al Aqsa Mosque), Jerusalem. The exterior of this building is covered and decorated with an extremely colorful mosaic surface.
Temple at Megiddo, Megiddo, Israel. I believe the main axis ran north-south, here, right to left. Haifa is in the far background. When I looked at more current satellite images of the site, far more has been excavated. When we visited the site, I was struck by what I felt to be spirits guarding the place.
Wailing Wall, Jerusalem.
Acropolis, Athens, Greece. One word: presence.
The Vatican, Rome, Italy.
Ruins of Pompeii, Italy. Vesuvius stands tall over the wrecked walls.
I hope the bit of history and commentary isn't too "geeky". The random collection represented here tells an interesting story.
