Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.

– T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets

Accidental photo alchemy, a hurried photo from a moving bus.  The park in Dominica was full of people on that warm island day.

Best I could do was snap a photo, and try to figure it all out another time.

– with love for the journey.

Photo by Lou Ann Granger, Dominica, April 2008

An early morning image along the Nile River, accidentally turned sideways, suddenly reveals the boundary between the ‘real’ world and a hidden world.    If  you look closely, you can discern the banks of the river on the right and their reflection on the left.

Such a thin boundary.  From this sideways point of view, it is easy to imagine stepping back and forth between the two worlds.

But for now, the mirrored image completely obscures the river’s hidden world.  We see nothing below the surface to let us know the true world of the river, not its contours, nor its life forms, nor its currents.  Instead, we see our own world twice.  What are we missing?

– with love for the journey.

Photo and processing by Lou Ann Granger

Beside a busy street in the Giza section of Cairo, our bus passed the fruit stand so quickly that it was almost a blur.  But hidden in the original crummy photo were the faint imprints of the vivid colors I remember.

A little bit of Photoshop photo alchemy, and the transformation captures more accurately the color and feel of that brief moment of memory.

Travel and memory are so closely intertwined in my mind, and I have tried so many ways to capture and preserve those moments.   Journaling, sketching, photos, and more.

It’s never quite enough, though.

– with love for the journey.

Photo and post-processing by Lou Ann Granger

My heart sings as I contemplate a return.  Istanbul or Constantinople or Byzantium,  this beautiful city straddling the Bosphorus at the crossroads between Europe and Asia has called to me for many years.

Such an aura of mystery and intrigue, a blending of exotic and known.  At this gateway to the unknown, I come again, and ready for another adventure.

It has been eight years, and I saw so little the first time.  Even this next time, in September, it is only a few days, and as part of a larger trip including Kusadasi, Konya and Cappadoccia.

I set forth with intention, to be open to the spirit of this ancient city, and the lingering essence of the many travelers who have passed this way before me.

– with love for the journey

Photo and postprocessing by Lou Ann Granger

One of the men told me he thought well of Cairo.  It was interesting.  “Take it from me,” he said, “there’s a lot in seeing places, because you can remember ‘em afterward.”
– Rudyard Kipling

This was a hurried moment in downtown Cairo.  Captured while rushing past many intriguing stores and shops on a quest for some art supplies for the Nile expedition the next day.   Feeling hot and harried, no time to stop and visit, just collecting first impressions on a busy sidewalk.

Yet, buried in the depths of what started as a very ordinary photo, there lie unexpected layers and textures, which are only uncovered afterward on reflection.  Reminding me, once again, that the real journey continues long after I return home.

– with love for the journey.

Photo by Lou Ann Granger, Cairo, Egypt
postprocessing with Topaz Adjust plugin for Photoshop