A Traveller’s Eye, A Thinker’s Heart
I like to tell stories. I like to take photos.
And I like to share them. Enjoy.
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JASMINE MEMORIES
Human beings have a remarkable ability to remember aromas. All of our senses can be connected with memories but perhaps none evoke nostalgia as much as smell. The olfactory bulb has easy access to a part of the brain known as the amygdala, which plays a role in evoking emotional memories. Yesterday I got a…
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ABOARD THE DELPHIN IN THE AMAZON
While a grad student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I took a course on tropical agriculture and studied under the great Amazonia scholar Dr William Deneven. I was mesmerised by his tales of the Amazon. And so was my classmate, Oliver Coomes, who decided to write his PhD dissertation on the riverine peasants – the…
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AN AMERICAN ROLE MODEL
Eight years ago, millions of black American youth woke up the day after the Presidential election and said, ‘Wow! Some day even I can become President’. Last night, millions of American girls went to bed thinking, ‘Wonderful. It sure looks like some day even I can become President’. This morning millions of American youth are…
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THE PAPER ROUTE
There’s been talk in our household lately of our first jobs. Joseph just secured his first job. He’ll be helping in the fight against world hunger by feeding students at a university burger shop. It’s perfect for Joe as he’s right on the university campus and allows him to save up for that coveted possession…
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MY FATHER ON FATHER’S DAY
I barely knew my father, but the fragments I held—eccentric brilliance, deep-sea dreams, fleeting moments in Alaska—still shape how I think about fatherhood. He lived wildly and inconsistently, burning bridges and chasing ideas. In the end, I was just a lightbulb in a long line of missed connections.
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VALE WOLFGANG
I thought I knew a thing or two about photography, love and life … until I met Wolfgang Hoffmann. He became my mentor and taught me pretty much everything I know about photography and a fair bit about life and love as well. Wolfgang passed away yesterday from congestive heart failure. I met Wolfgang almost…
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GRANDMA AND SINCLAIR LEWIS
I was filing away some of my grandparents’ papers the other day when I spotted a short letter addressed to my grandmother, Cecile Belle Adam, in October 1940. It was a simple letter about missing a dinner engagement or similar and it made me start wondering why do we bother keeping such old correspondence. Then…
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THE TOUGHEST JOB YOU’LL EVER LOVE
It was 35 years ago today that a bunch of recent college graduates in agriculture, forestry and environmental education and I landed in Central America to begin our two-year Peace Corps Costa Rica Volunteer assignments. We all got to know each other a few months earlier in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. The Peace Corps flew…
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COME TO CORN ISLAND
My Nicaraguan counterpart, Juan José, and I were real amateurs at our jobs. The Institute of Tourism sent us on a mission to go to Corn Islands to bring back some great pics and promotional material. We were really out of our league. As I recall Juan José had a degree in commerce but he…
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