MYOPIA:
A few days before I was about to leave Hudson, New York for San Miguel de Allende, Mexico a friend mentioned an essay by Roland Barthes titled, The Eiffel Tower. Then she asked, "Do you know from where in Paris you CAN NOT see the Eiffel Tower?" "Um, um." I was a little harried, and replied, "I give up." To which she responded, " When you're inside the Eiffel Tower."
It's been ages since I read that essay, one of probably several thousand required when I was immersed in reading about Semiotics at the Annenberg School at Penn. And though I don't think Barthes had in mind quite what I had in mind when I was waiting on line at JFK, first for check-in, then after schlepping my luggage across the concourse to another line, and another hour's wait, something sprang to mind.
I wonder, is it possible to see what the US looks like when you're "inside" it? Can we see what everyone else on the planet sees? I doubt it. My point of view has shifted, and sometimes I'm not quite sure exactly what it is I'm looking at, what I'm seeing. But I know this, the longer you live outside the US, as a US citizen, an ex-pat, the more you begin to see the shape of the culture that rises like a tower in the middle of North America between Canada and Mexico. I suppose it's all a question of point of view, of perspective.
–PHA
EL JARDIN
The Garden Of Forking Paths
3 comments:
I have another one for you. Who is the one person in the world that can't see Philip Alvare? Why, it's Philip Alvare, of course! That will remain a constant for all of us, no matter where we move to, or choose to live. Buenos! I love you Philip!
Interesting projection, Luke, but I think you missed my point. It's only through a shift in perspective, changing my point of view, that I've begun to see myself, to know myself. You might try it sometime.
Besos, Luquito
Hello Philip,
This link is to a photo space that;
The OTHER link (which I've said, hey, if she's famous, why not we hear/experience about this???
Geat Photo!
Doug
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