BEACON JOURNAL 04.15.13

Dinner with photographer Patricia Lay-Dorsey, the most inspiring and spirited person I have had the honor of meeting and knowing. Her work Falling Into Place: A Self Portrait is currently on exhibit at Fovea in Beacon, New York, until July 7th. To see her work: http://www.patricialaydorsey.com

CITY DIARY 04.08.13

Williamsburgh, Brooklyn, New York
©Ronnie Farley

CITY DIARY 3.26.13

 New York Water Towers show is currently at The Joint at 471 Myrtle, in Brooklyn until the end of April. This work is part of an upcoming book which chronicles 25 years of  New York's  beautiful wooden tanks. © Ronnie Farley

CITY DIARY 3.24.13

                    Sunset on water tower, New York City, 2007 © Ronnie Farley

It was "World Water Day" two days ago and a large symposium was held at the United Nations to commemorate this day--and address the daunting issues that face the world regarding water.  Was there a spot of news about any of this in our mainstream media? There was a billboard at Times Square that had an animation about water that would flash a few of times an hour (according to a New York Times blog called "Green"). The Times also had a "Picture of the Day"--a girl from India with water dripping from a spigot. That was it. I guess at least there was some kind of nod towards the issue. But folks, this is our life's blood, the Earth's blood! Shouldn't there be more concern over this in our mainstream media?

The arm of the global energy interests reaches far into our mainstream media outlets—whether they are owners, investors, board members, or major advertisers.

Almost half, that is HALF of the water consumed in this country is used for 'thermoelectric power generation.' Simply put, that is the production of electricity through steam driven turbine generators—burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, or petroleum to create steam, which propels the turbines that create electricity. Then, the machinery used to produce the electricity needs to be cooled down—hence using more water, then that water gets too hot and needs to be stored to cool off, before being drained into a lake, a river, the ocean, or some kind of holding pool or drainage system (Nukes is not the alternative because they use even more copius amounts of water—especially to cool the rods, and nukes also create waste from spent uranium, which also needs to be cooled, often by immersion in water).

In addition to the use of water in the creation of electricity, there is an enormous amount of water used in the extraction, processing and transport of these natural resources to the power plants, usually contaminating the local water source with toxic by-products of the mining operation. Oftentimes the communities with power plants in their back yard are Indian reservations or low-income areas, who suffer high cancer rates as a result of the toxins in the water they drink

Water is our most precious resource and yet we have created machines that are sucking our life blood out of the Earth, and in turn, killing us. All for the profit of a few, under the guise of "making life easier." We've created a social, economic, and political system completely dependent upon electricity and at the same time, we are writing ourselves onto the endangered species list. As we dive headlong into our technological future, it is my hope that the generations to come will address this madness and embrace a way of thinking that works with the laws of Nature rather than against her, and create technologies that advance us forward towards life-sustaining ways. The responsibility of technology is  'Kapieren und Kopiernen'—first understand Nature, then copy it. If we continue to think we will harness and bend Nature to our will, we are further coercing her destructive powers to save herself from our hubris.

BEACON JOURNAL 02.14.13

True Valentine, Beacon, New York  2013 © Ronnie Farley

02.04.13

Cara Lee Sperry hangs  my New York Water Towers show at Superfine, at 126 Front Street between Adams & Jay Street in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn. The opening is Thursday Feb. 7th from 6-9pm during the DUMBO Art Walk. This show includes 21 color and black & white photographs and 25 small oil paintings.  The New York Water Tower book and exhibit project is sponsored in part by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation.

12.15.12

                   A dandelion in a shaft of light, Beacon, New York, 2012 © Ronnie Farley

To My Dear Friends In The Media Business,

I miss you all and think of you whenever I hear of tragedies which come more often than not these days. While I miss a regular paycheck, I do not miss the barrage of horror that you have to deal with from across the globe on a daily basis.

I remember when I would return to Associated Press after being away for awhile, and the first few weeks were always a shock on my system. My dreams were permeated by massacres in Africa, or shootings in schools, or hijacked planes, until I would become 'numb' to such stories and shut that part of my heart off to do the work that was required of me in the course of the day.

Nowadays, it seems citizens are acting out because they know the media will cover their actions.The media plays an important role in our society, no doubt. This was the case in the sixties especially with the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam war. There was a clear message for change. Now, the media becomes the puppet in people's psychotic schemes and agendas.

When you work in such an environment, it is easy to forget the goodness and the true spirit of things. The adrenaline rush of breaking news throws everyone into a battlefield mindset where time is of the essence, and ratings, or being 'first' are the ultimate goal.

Personally, I think we need to feed our souls with more imagery and stories about the human capacity to overcome and make anew, or stories about the beauty and restorative properties of Nature, instead of her powers of destruction. If you step back and look at our media, it is consumed with death and destruction, and it feeds upon itself. If you think you are not affected by working in this environment, think again. Remember how light you feel when you go away on your vacation, or are away from the newsroom for a few days, not surrounded by computers and electronics and television sets perched above your heads belching out the 'breaking news' that you are trained to react to?

I'm writing this because my heart goes out to you all. How many are dealing with health issues or personal problems because of the stress and electromagnetic environment where you spend most of your life? It is a bubble of negativity, plain and simple. And one needs to find a way to process the barrage of information that gets filtered through your brain and into every molecule of your body.

This isn't a rant against the news business, this is a plea to my friends who work in the news environment, to find an anchor within where your spirit is fed and nourished, and you are able to see beyond the 'newsfeed' and into the realm of true possibilities for the future of the planet.

Perhaps we will begin to see more stories that nourish the spirit, to counteract this media magnifying glass of the world gone absolutely mad.