Poltrack Blog

I spend a lot of time photographing the older cemeteries in New England. One sad recurrent theme is the large number of women who die in childbirth or shortly thereafter. In 1800 women gave birth and average of 7 times during their lives. At that time women had a shorter life expendancy than men The 1850s U.S. Census showed that the infant mortality rate to be 28 percent. Conditions didn't improve later in the century when doctors became involved spreading puerperal infection with their unwashed hands . Mrs. Betsy Knowles died five days after giving birth to her third child Click to visit my online photo albums

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them. This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama Good Morning, I had a nice vacation day yesterday and had the opportunity to visit the Mariposa Museum in Peterborough, NH to watch the Drepung Gomang monks construct a Peace Mandala. The day starts with a morning chant followed by hours of meticulous work on the mandala. I've prepared a short video showing how it is done using brass funnels with ridges. Morning Chant Morning Chant The entire process will take 4 days. At the end the mandala will be destroyed Click to visit my online photo albums

In June of 2012 we were visiting relatives on Vancouver Island. Rather than take inland route, we opted to take the Black Ball Ferry that leaves from Port Angeles in Washington State. I didn't realize it at the time but in June there was a reduced schedule. As a result we had a layover time of several hours. After lunch my wife opted to nap in the car, but I ventured out camera in hand to see what Port Angeles offered for photographic subjects After watching monster machines move logs around as if they were toothpicks I discovered that the town had a street art exhibit.The Chamber of Commerce supplied a map and I took the tour. One of the sculptures was a large tree with attached faces. I'm not sure how I feel about the whole piece but the faces were intriguing , especially the leaf face with leaf eyebrows. Unfortunately I forgot to keep the map that listed the works so I cannot credit the sculptors. I should explain why I'm posting photos taken 4 years ago. I...

I had a nice discussion with New Ipswich resident Norma Dennis Straitiff about digitizing antique photographs. Norma does genealogical research of her family and in possession of a number of daguerreotypes  that were taken in the 1880s. These present a challenge to photograph because they are fragile and sealed in frames. The surface is highly reflective and the image can appear as a positive or negative depending upon the field of view. Some of these photos are members of the Grimes/Maxwell family who had a farm in New Ipswich which includes my present home in New Ipswich. Daguerreotype photos peaked 1842-1858. The process involved exposing a plate of silver coated copper to the fumes and iodine which would react with the silver making it light sensitive. After exposure it would be "developed" by being exposed to mercury vapor. All chemicals are very toxic. There is no negative, each image is unique. They were often hand tinted as these are. Norma was most c...

Good morning,  If you wonder why most of my posts occur in the early hours of the day, the answer is in the photo below. When Buster was sick he require an antibiotic twice a day. To get him to eat the medicine, I crushed it and placed it in some wet cat food. Up to this point he was only fed in the evening.  Buster soon realized that he like the new arrangement of having breakfast. He is incredibly loud and would loudly meow until I awoke He can be heard through closed doors and even outside.Telling him to shut up only makes me feel as if I have some control, but of course I don't.  The starting time of the day for me has moved up and finally settled in a 4 AM. Even in the rare instances where he doesn't nag me, my body is so attuned that I wake up anyway. After his breakfast he mocks my sleepless state by curling up on an amplifier and going to sleep for the day. Buster Using an uninterrrupted power supply as a pillow After a while the amplifier...