No. 52. Highlights of 2019

Tojinbaka, Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan

Colorful traditional German houses on a hillside reflected in the Elbe River — Elbe Mirror

Hiking the Great Wall in China on Holiday — Hiking the Great Wall on 70th Anniversary Holiday

Kowloon Island Viewed from a Sampan — Kowloon Viewed from a Sampan

Eating spicy squid on a stick Qingdao Street Market — Eating squid on a stick

Tienanmen Square — The Photographer

Not Abbey Road, or Bag Ladies with Phones, women on the street in Xiamen, China — Not Abbey Road, or Bag Ladies with Phones

Pollinating Insects Find Nourishment

Root and Branch Infrared Photo — Root and Branch (IR with channel Swap)

Composite Photograph of house along the Elbe River in Germany — Out of the Way and Distressed

Gunpowder and Lead, composite Photograph of Boyertown, PA, Gun Club. Title inspired by Miradna Lamber Song of the same name. — Gunpowder and Lead

Composite Photo of beach at La Boca. Texture is of fossilized Coral from a nearby formation. — Sand, Sun and Cabanas in Cuba

Parked Bicycle, La Boca Beach, Cuba — Pointing to the Water

Rusted Hulk of a ship in the by near La Boca, Cuba. Composite Photo overlaid with fossilized coral and succulents growing out of cracks in the coral beach. — Reclamation

Towing the Line. Small boat dragging mooring line from cruise ship — Towing the Line

Setting the Mooring

Small lizard Climbing the Wall, black and white photo — Climbing the Wall

Virgin Snow on the Sand Spring Trail, Shartlesville, PA. A tributary of the Appalachian Trail. — Virgin Snow 05

Sun Sand and Shadow Studies 08, Black and white Photo, Luquilo Beach, Puerto Rico — Sun Sand and Shadow Studies 08

Studying San Juan texture — Studying San Juan textures

One of many well cared for cats roaming near the old fortress in San Juan, Puerto Rico — Cat on a statue

San Juan Harbor

Tortola Study, No. 1

La Boca Fisherman’s Club

Horsemen chatting in the square in Trinidad, Cuba — Friendly Chat

Most years I forego the ritual of looking back to choose “the best of the year” or “my favorites of the year” or whatever people do. I guess I avoid the exercise because I’m not usually given to nostalgia. It’s probably a mistake because looking back through the previous year’s postings provides an opportunity for self-critical reflection. For better or worse here are my selections from the past year. I’ve attempted to pull out highlights from my posted photographs from the past year. Most are based on our extensive travels, which included 11 Caribbean Islands in addition to Puerto Rico and Cuba, and of course our travels to China and parts of Japan. One of the pictures I chose, from the Elbe River, was captured early in 2018. I included it because I only developed and posted it toward the end of 2019 while taking a break from processing photos from Asia.
Some of the photos chosen here (disappointingly few) are local. My intention in the coming year is to capture more images closer to home. My most popular photos are from local scenes. Although I’m now living in an area where I spent my youth, I’m constantly exploring and learning about it. My intention is to begin the New Year with a hike to French Creek State Park on the first day of 2020.

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Miscellaneous Retrospective 20019

December 28, 2019 2019 Favorites, Miscellaneous

Jay M. Ressler

Jay Ressler Composite Photography, Encaustic Art, and Oil Painting He is an outstanding location photographer and painter, with an eye that can capture the soul of a Havana back street as beautifully as the sip of a hungry hummingbird, often with compelling black and white images. Jay Ressler is best known for artistic expression that lives in layers between opposites. “I like to explore boundaries,” he explains. “Boundaries between consciousness and the unconscious, between reality and imagination, between certainty and skepticism.” He does this by compositing his own photography in multiple layers to produce stunningly original, interleaved images. Using Photoshop, other image manipulation software and a variety of digital effects, he paints one photographic layer on top of another. He takes advantage of textures he's captured along with an array of processes for manipulating light, contrast, and color to tell the story. “Distorting and reinterpreting the literal 'machine moments' captured by the camera is as old as the art of photography,” he insists. Jay occasionally extends his multi-layered approach to encaustic mixed media creations. Based on ancient techniques, the process begins with cooking his own recipes of beeswax and damar resin and applying this medium between the layers of photographic images, along with various pigmented compounds and materials to add color, texture and expression. Either way, the results are riveting. The viewer is drawn into an unfolding, dreamlike scene that might be heart-warming, haunting, gritty, poignant or magical. Sometimes, within the various layers, all of the above. The award-winning photographer/artist has many dimensions himself. He studied advanced digital photography at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and advanced encaustic techniques with leading instructors in the field. He worked as an underground coal miner, steelworker, machinist, labor and civil rights activist, copywriter and commercial printer. He has a BS in Psychology from Albright College.