Photograph - Hearts and Monuments, Point Arena Lighthouse, Photographer: Jonathan Pazer ©2025

Fort Bragg Open Studio Tour at MCPGG

The Mendocino Coast Photographers Gallery has joined the Fort Bragg Open Studio Tour and will be presenting special activities during this year's Tour.

The Open Studio events are all day July 19 & 20 2025, 10am - 5pm.

• Jonathan Pazer:  Photography and Poems
• Jon Klein:  Photography demonstration
• Molly Boynoff Klein:  Ceramics, demonstration of handbuilding pots
• Jonathan Pazer:  Poetry Reading 2pm both days

POETRY READINGS: Saturday & Sunday 2pm

The readings will feature poems from Jonathan's book, Seven Dimensions of the Unseen, some of his newer ekphrastic poems, with accompanying photos, and a guest poet or two, followed by a poetry book drawing and giveaway.

Jonathan has been published both as a photographer and a poet in various literary collections in the last few years, and his book of ekphrastic poetry and abstract photography, Seven Dimensions of the Unseen, is available at the gallery as well as on Amazon.

The following poem Hearts & Monuments was written by Jonathan Pazer and was inspired by his photograph of the same name, taken at the Point Arena Lighthouse, shown above. A description of the meaning of ekphrasis and the creation of the photograph follow.

HEARTS & MONUMENTS

Almost no one sets off
to walk the path of heroes
they just start walking and the road
explodes under their feet.

If you look closely
monuments to the unsung
line avenues all around us
and pock every hill

without white marble steps
stone plinths or chiseled honors
an eternal flame still sizzles in
the quiet solemn rain.

SHOP FOR THIS PHOTOGRAPH - MCPGG.COM

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

EKPHRASTIC POETRY

A marriage of the arts, ekphrastic poetry is a classical Greek word which relates to an artistic work in one medium being used to comment on or taking inspiration from an artistic work in an different medium.

My poetry is often inspired by my own photography. The poems rarely "require" the related image to be understood, and either the poem or the photograph should stand on their own. Together, the viewer can experiences both media in a more complete way.

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC STORY OF "HEARTS & MONUMENTS"

Taking pictures is always a journey.... On this visit to Point Arena Lighthouse, the winter weather was beginning to turn. The storm shown in the picture was coming over the horizon with I first got my shot set up. Over the next hour of shooting, adjusting and observing the weather went from distant clouds in the west to looming storm. Meanwhile a separate set of clouds to the south hung low over the sky making the the already low afternoon side-light even more dramatic.

I shot a lot of frames in that hour because it just kept getting more and more dramatic. It wasn't till the gust-front of the storm began to thicken the air with seaspray that I finally decided I'd better pack up before the storm hit.

I had just collapsed my tripod and carefully put my camera and gear securely into my pack when I realized I had stayed just a few minutes too long. The storm broke fast and hard with strong horizontal winds and it poured like a summer thunderstorm back East.

My wife Andrea, who had been walking on the headlands earlier, was thinking more strategically than I, and had gotten back to the car before the storm hit. Thoughtfully she had moved it down the road to get it as close to me as she could.

Closer was nice, but in the first minute of the storm I was absolutely drenched and by the time I made it the one hundred feet to the car, I was squishing in my sneakers! Which is to say I had a great time, watched a fabulous storm come ashore, saw some of the most spectacular light I had ever had a chance to photograph and stepped into a car with the heat blasting to warm up in on the way home.  

Much later after processing the best shots from my outing I was inspired to write my poem, which sought to convey the heroism of folks just going about their business, who rise to the occasion every day on ships, at lighthouses, farms, and in cities.