Contact Lens, Part 3
By Gary Joseph Cohen
21 Jun 2009
As I sit down to write this, news of the political protests in Iran worsen. Men and women die in the streets, their last breaths recorded on cell phone cameras and transmitted across the globe. What could I possibly write or photograph in my little town of New York City that would have any positive impact on the world? I encounter the "other," and in so doing, encounter my otherness. I water the plants on my window sill, and in so doing green the air in my living room. I choose whether or not to nap or hit the streets with my "piece," as my friend calls it. But what have I risked today, but the occasional rejection in asking to take a stranger's photograph. I have been around the sun 39 times. In that time, I have cast my vote for leaders elect and leaders deferred. In each case, the transfer of power has been peaceful. Have I given much thought to that? As I write this, a young woman's eyes roll back as her father yells over her limp body, to stay awake, to not be afraid, to stay awake. The cell phone that documented her passing passively charged the night before, I'm certain, on a nondescript shelf. It didn't blink as it stared death in the face. Today I went to Coney Island to stare life in the face. Yesterday it was Riverside. The week before, Canal. The month before, Broadway, and so on. Life all around me. I have come under the spell of the "other." I charged my batteries on the couch. I wore a hat with a feather in the band. Probably quail. I don't know. I don't know you, dear reader, but I hope to change that. Let us all send our thoughts out into the world so that they may boomerang back at us as action. Get to know someone. It just may save our lives.
6 responses
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Gary Joseph Cohen added a link (21 Jun 2009):
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Gary Joseph Cohen added a link (21 Jun 2009):
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G Richard Anderson gave props (28 Jun 2009):
fantastic series (summer solstice)...
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Sherry Davis Johnson gave props (9 Jul 2009):
This was the BEST ESSAY EVER!!!! I hope it gets published. I hope that I am blessed to one day cross your path for you are a magnificent spirit.
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Pat Merino gave props (13 Jul 2009):
Series & essay are inspiring
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Quenby Sheree said (25 Jul 2009):
I'm torn because I really like the photos, but I also dislike the text. It's not nearly on the same level with the images and it would be nice to have both. You're trying to use the tragedy and emotion of what's happening in Iran to transfer onto your street photography and it's not affecting me the way I know it was meant to. I like your last two lines, but your descriptions of events in Iran manage to be both bland and melodramatic at the same time. Most of the text also strikes me as filler. The idea is good, but the execution is really bad (in my opinion).
I usually don't criticize anything on this site, but like I said- I really like the photos and it would be an easy yes for me if the text didn't turn me away so much. So I hope I didn't offend. Obviously, people do like it- but none of us ever get an explanation on why someone voted "no" so I wanted to do that.
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