Foto Friday 17 – Reflections II
Welcome to the Desert of the Real
beneath a million suns,
the desert of the real,
burns the asphalt of our souls,
parched for purpose,
in a maze of meaning,
we exist to evaporate,
breath by breath,
into the cosmos.
alien ideas,
distorted limbs,
crawl through minds,
fuel what we cannot keep,
burden without weight,
bind us to the deep.
we give,
we take,
we reach,
we raise,
we embrace,
what lies beneath.
Hold out your hand, and you shall receive.
About the photos
I took many photos of the puddles in the courtyard while waiting for my son to finish his karate lesson that day with my iPhone (11 Pro Max). These are the three I liked the most (black and white processing done in Snapseed).
desert of the real1 – a surreal (s)tar-filled sky illuminated by the sun
idealien – my alien shadow across a puddle
reach – my son’s hand
Outtake
Before you go…
In keeping with the title, I am reflecting on my journey on Substack thus far. There are many things I love and some things I struggle with. Being more active on Notes is one.
This newsletter is now in its second year and has a plethora of diverse content, and that hand in the last photo may as well be mine reaching out for your help.
Asking for help isn’t easy for me, although it should be (for everyone), but that is a post for another time maybe. My goal remains the same: build an audience on Substack, finish my novel, query an agent and get published or self-publish, and most importantly, keep writing and looking for work (and ideally get paid).
Writing is my oxygen.
I’m immensely grateful for all of you, free and paid subscribers, and as a special thanks, paid subscribers will soon receive the complete ebook of Carter (Part 1-3). I hope you’ll enjoy it.
I love TFTD! How can I help?
Glad you asked.
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Again, thank you for being here and supporting my work. If you have other ideas or want to say Hi, drop me a line and if you like to hang out with other TFTD readers, join us on Discord.
Previously on FotoFriday…
Foto Friday 16 – Reflections
The Arboretum is a wonderful place to slow down and reflect, especially on a summer’s day, a jour d’éte, a mild breeze and the song of birds in the air—one can be. Pause, take a moment, be mindful, breathe, reflect, feel the breeze, the murmur of the water, the buzzing of bees, the gentle rustling of leaves, the tree, the branches, the folia…
The line “Welcome to the desert of the real” by Morpheus in The Matrix refers to a phrase in Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation. Part of this phrase appears in the following context of the book:
“If once we were able to view the Borges fable in which the cartographers of the Empire draw up a map so detailed that it ends up covering the territory exactly [...] this fable has now come full circle for us, and possesses nothing but the discrete charm of second-order simulacrum [...] It is the real, and not the map, whose vestiges persist here and there in the deserts that are no longer those of the Empire, but ours. The desert of the real itself.” (source)
Those are photographs?? Amazing.
Always enjoy your multimedia blends of artistry and storytelling.
(Looking forward to Moons in June as well!)
“bind us to the deep”
Love that line, Alexander
Out of all the photos you have shared these are my favourites. Every single one is absolutely stunning. I can see so many discreet images in the second one that it probably says a lot about my psyche 😁. Thanks for sharing them 🙏
Also, I’ve never been the sharpest tac in the box, but if you need any advice or just want to talk about stuff, then you know where I am 👍🏼