"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera."

--Lewis Wickes Hine

Confession: I often struggle with this ironic assignment – writing about photography. The true magic of a visual image is that words become unnecessary, hence the well-worn cliché, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” (Though with inflation and everything, a picture is probably worth at least 5,280 words by now, give or take a few adverbs.)

When peering into the face of an honest shot, a true image, it is not unlike Alice falling down the rabbit hole and finding herself in a completely different world. After a fall like that, what is there to say? I ponder this after coming across Body of Work, the deep and beautiful photography blog of Donimo - an example:

As a visual artist, Donimo has worked with metal and found objects and has a keen interest in rust and other evidence of mechanical wear and tear. This attraction may come from a very direct place as she struggles with her own physical challenges and persistent pain. I deeply admire her bravery and willingness to route her awful discomfort into images of peace and beauty.

“I have chronic, very intense full body pain. This blog is, in part, an exploration of the reality of living with disabling pain: the blood and guts of it, the complexity of it, the weirdness and the work. Mine is a difficult body to live in: each day is a physical struggle.…My art flows through my body and is under its influence: this is my body of work. Since pain muddles my head, I won't write a lot; rather, I will communicate mostly through my images.”

--Donimo, Body of Work

Okay, so maybe finding a giant black Tarantula in your beach towel isn’t your idea of a good time. Yes, well, me neither. However, I do revel in the joy and enthusiasm that writer, photographer and naturalist Bev Wigney greets that exact situation:

“As you might guess, I wasn’t afraid, but actually kind of excited. I’ve only ever seen captive Tarantulas, so it was pretty cool to find one on its home turf.”

--Bev, Burning Silo

Her blog, Burning Silo, is a loving look at creepy crawlies plus a few little beasts I might even consider touching. A sampling of the categories cracks me up: … “Food, Friends, Fungi, Geography, Geology, Insects, Invertebrates, Lepidoptera ...” (For an amusing story in fire-related humility, be sure to read the back story of how her blog came to be named.) Bev lives in Eastern Ontario with her hubby and they like to go exploring in canoes. She shares some of her canoe insight and more fun photos at her website, MagickCanoe. Also, check out her full nature photography collection here.

ATTENTION ALL NAT-GEO WANNABES! National Geographic is having their inaugural NG Photography Contest. Submissions will be accepted in four categories: people, landscape, animals and photo essay. They will announce a winner in each category and they will receive a Canon EOS 5D digital camera but, let’s face it, the real prize would be having your photos published in National Geographic. Deadline is October 31.

Y'know, I'm a big enough dork that putting together an entry for this may be the focus of my weekend. I even went to the NG HQ in DC once and bought a hat, just cuz. Makes me feel wordly.

Finally, in the Inevitable Department, we’ve got the death of film. Last week, the New York Times had a great little piece on a side casualty: the drive-up photo processing shack. Sign o’the times, indeed. Yup, things are either getting flatter or smaller or disappearing entirely ... with the exception of my thighs, no shrinkage there.

More fun stuff:

Office Snapshots shows you the inside of “the offices you care about.” Not sure if there is any office I particularly care about but I do enjoy seeing the small dowdy apartment that serves as Craigslist HQ. The graffiti on the door arch really adds a nice touch and screams ‘major global Internet force’ dontcha think?

Oh, the disturbingly entertaining items one can find while wasting precious chunks of life online! Please enjoy the ugly sport of jowling. That is, shaking your head back and forth until your mouth fills with air and your lips become, well, airborne.

It’s things like this that make me get down on my knees and thank the mighty Whomever that I was born just in time to experience the Internet.