JPG: Stories: Photo Essay: Contact Lens, Part 2

Contact Lens, Part 2

By Gary Joseph Cohen

15 Feb 2009

When I was a kid, my favorite movie was Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Much as I loved "Superman" or "Bambi," I knew then as I do now that that film offered more than what appeared on screen. It may no longer be my number one, but like the space ships in the film, it mystically hovers up and down my top twenty-five to this very day.

"Close Encounters..." is a film that taps directly into our deeply rooted desire to connect with that which we know exists, but feel we have no access to. Whether that connection be earthly or heavenly, carnal or spiritual, more often than not we are constrained by our senses, our sense of propriety (much of which is learned), and our sense of self worth or unworthiness. The characters in the film lead disparate, and in some cases desperate lives, though are driven, called upon actually, by a unifying and invisible compulsion. Unbeknownst to them, like ants to sugar they are drawn to Devils Tower (a very real spiritual epicenter in Wyoming) to come in contact with the unknown. Of course, in true mythological form, their individual journeys are hindered by an array of physical, intellectual and emotional barriers. Once overcome, though, what are the rewards?

In the film, the rewards come in the way of romance, deeply rooted comradeship, spiritual exultation, and knowledge (in some cases, knowledge of knowledge itself!). However, let's return to the "original" impulse of these characters: curiosity (particularly a child-like curiosity; the very best kind, often subverted or displaced entirely by adult skepticism and bias). These wanderers, though beaten down by life, remained in touch with that one essential kernel that kept them, us, anyone, from growing old, from dying of boredom, from growing detached. Curiosity. Interestingly enough, the Latin root "cura" means "to care." To be curious means to be caring, and to be an active agent in following that care.

I'm curious how many times in my life I wanted to make contact, meaningful contact with someone I didn't know, but hesitated because I allowed other things to get in the way: bias, fear, hatred, ambivalence, etc. What was I afraid of? Was I afraid to trade my familiar story of the other, a story most likely handed down and adopted from a fearful or damaged person or group, for something more "real"? Like the characters in "Close Enounters..." I am damaged, I know , but am deeply curious. I am driven by an urge that I can neither see nor materialize, but know I must respond to by forgetting much of what I learned as a kid and young adult. And though the impulse may be invisible, the outcome is concrete. Photographs: close encounters of the best kind.

I ask as Spielberg asks, "Are there others out there who feel the same...lost, alone, misunderstood, written off, devalued, pissed off, disconnected..." If so, forget what you think you know about the unknown, and honor your curiosity, and the curiosity of others. We'll be sure to be in contact then.

For "Contact Lens, Part 1", please click here: http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/8877