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A tree overlooking Lake Roosevelt, WA.

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A much more edited picture of a moss covered rock face.

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A dying tree seen near Lake Roosevelt, WA. 

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The photograph consists of two pieces of burned paper holding text surrounded by blank paper. The first piece of burned paper contains the message “African Americans are incarcerated 5x the frequency compared to whites.” The second, “American Indians are 2x as likely to be sexually assaulted compared to all races.” Sections of these pages were burned by first coating the selected area with water and then holding an open flame underneath until the paper began burning. The pages were then left to dry overnight. After drying, the burned pages were placed side by side, to then be surrounded by pieces of blank printer paper. The first step of editing was adjusting the contrast, highlights, and shadows to make the unfilled text as pronounced as possible. Next, the saturation of the image was reduced to zero, turning the photograph black and white. The final step of editing was adding a “sand” border to the image.

The goal of the image was to illustrate the age and severity of specific societal disproportionalities, as well as, hint at the existence of many forgotten others through symbolism. The severity of the situation is demonstrated through the high trauma to the paper. The age and depth of disproportionality is viewed by the fact that the paper is not burning, but in ashes, leaving behind only deep chasms. The paper at the center is in plain view and focused upon, leading viewers to pass by the surrounding paper. This is indicative of societal problems never being noticed; thus, ever remaining blank. What would you add to these empty sheets?

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The original photograph is of a shadow projected upon a paper and wood divider. This projection was conducted using a lamp to produce the shadow, standing in such a way that only half the shadow is on the divider, and using the non-divider arm to take the photograph.  The first step in editing was reducing the saturation of the image to zero, transforming the photo into a black and white format. The second step was greatly increasing the contrast of the image as to raise the profile of the shadow. To supplement step two, all shadows in the image were then increased. To censor the region of the shadow were eyes would be, the lightness of the image was reduced to zero. This caused the entire image to become blacked out. The darkness was then erased excluding the censored region. Next, two overlays of fire were implemented. The first was an overlay of a campfire and lined the image almost on top of the shadow. The second added a layer of flame to the bottom of the image. The final step of editing was reducing color saturation to zero for a second time to turn the flame overlays black and white.

The final image depicts the silhouette of an individual encased in fire. The eyes of the silhouette are censored, hiding identity. This image was intended to symbolize the outcome of individuals who have been ignored or thrown away by the dominant group in our society.  The identity of the burning shadow is obscured, symbolizing being hidden or thrown away. The shadow is reminiscent of not being viewed as a full person. Fire illustrates the agony and damage being forgotten or thrown away subjects one to. Finally, the photograph was edited to show the last few horrid moments before death.

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A light post during a snow storm. 

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Photograph of Seattle skyscrapers. 

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The results of my first attempt at “painting with light” after several layers of edits. 

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Original photo taken at a Spokane, WA intersection in the down town area.

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Photograph of Quartzite Mountain September 29th, 2019.

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Photograph from Spokane, WA during an early winter storm.

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Quartzite Mountain with an overlay.

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A somewhat successful photo of the Moon.

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Sunset seen from Chewelah, WA

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Say hello to the Butterfly Nebula 👋

It looks like our Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of a peaceful, cosmic butterfly unfurling its celestial wings, but the truth is vastly more violent. In the Butterfly Nebula, layers of gas are being ejected from a dying star. Medium-mass stars grow unstable as they run out of fuel, which leads them to blast tons of material out into space at speeds of over a million miles per hour!

Streams of intense ultraviolet radiation cause the cast-off material to glow, but eventually the nebula will fade and leave behind only a small stellar corpse called a white dwarf. Our middle-aged Sun can expect a similar fate once it runs out of fuel in about six billion years.

Planetary nebulas like this one aren’t actually related to planets; the term was coined by astronomer William Herschel, who actually discovered the Butterfly Nebula in 1826. Through his small telescope, planetary nebulas looked like glowing, planet-like orbs. While stars that generate planetary nebulas may have once had planets orbiting them, scientists expect that the fiery death throes these stars undergo will ultimately leave any planets in their vicinity completely uninhabitable.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

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Some structures constructed from driftwood on the Cape Disappointment beach.

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Sun Setting Upon The Pacific Ocean.

Photo taken from the Cape Disappointment State Park beach.