At Home in Nature

I recently picked up the book, At Home in Nature: Modern Homesteading and the Spiritual Practice by Rebecca Kneale Gould. The book grabbed my attention particularly as I am preparing to do an illustrated lecture on the interconnections between intellect, spirituality, and consciousness. 

In At Home in Nature, Gould, a Professor of Religion, focuses on the subculture of homesteaders to examine broader issues of nature and culture. She writes:

 " For the homesteader and back- to-the- landers, who are the focus of this study, nature is most often constructed in a particular way: as sacred, beneficent, and redemptive; or, sometimes in more rational language, as the ultimate source of "order" or "purpose" in life, as the "core" or "true set of laws" around which daily life should be organized. But this book begins with the assumption that neither nature nor religion exist outside culture. "Nature" and "religion" are always shaped by historical contexts." 

She also writes:

"But this study also includes an examination of the ways in which nature is constructed, that is, how the word nature is interpreted and understood by those who consciously seek to live intimately with the natural world."

At Home in Nature is a deep book. I won't pretend to have read nor understood all the aspects of the book, though I recognize that it is an important contribution to the literature of nature as a spiritual practice in America. It is a fascinating exploration of a particular way of looking and living in the world.  As for myself,  the post-modern cynic is often in conflict with the romantic naturalist. What I enjoyed about Gould's book,  is that she is able to manage an intelligent and objective exploration of her subject, while offering historical and cultural insights for the soul. 

Once again she writes: 

"In Nature and in much of his later work, Emerson mediates on the ways in which contact with and contemplation of nature will enable the "poet-seer" to develop divine capacities to see the spiritual lessons inscribed in the world and transform them through the work of the imagination, making them available to the reader." 

Against Happiness, Photolucida, and Editing Negatives

Dennis DeHart, 6x7 Negative, (Spring Green, Prescott, Arizona) 2005

Have I mentioned how much I love our library on Orcas? I recently picked up a copy of the book "Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy by Eric G. Wilson. Wilson's basic premise is that our societies obsession with canned or artificial happiness is detrimental to the completeness of the human condition. One of the most poignant points in the book was Wilson's discussion of Romantic irony. He writes that (p. 129); "Romantic irony, developed mainly in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century by German philosophers like Frederick Von Schlegel, assumes that the universe is simply too compacious, too complex, too overabundant, ever to be accurately represented by anyone thought, image, or statement."

Later Wilson writes (p.130):
"Though it often organizes literary expression, Romantic Irony is basically an attitude, a diposition, a way of being. It is a method for making sense of the world without being dogmatic, for remaining open-minded in the face of inevitable interderminacy, for being able to remain in an interpretive limbo, aware of the fact that one perspective on the world is ever finally true. The person who is ironic in this way ultimately takes life seriously and not seriously at the same time. He/she knows that his/her experience of the world is dynamic, vital, and fascinating. Be he/she also realizes that this same experience is utterly inadequate, incomplete, and banal. He/she has his world and leaves it too." Wilson goes on to distinguish Romantic irony from "generation X'ers and probably Generation Y types" form of irony, as different from the "no matter how potentially moving an experience is, I can stand outside it and mock it." He call this form of irony "instrumental irony" which borders on nihilism.

At times I did found my self skimming the book. I particularly found the biographical sections on various monumental melancholic figures throughout the ages, long winded. Ultimately Against Happiness is a thoughtful book that is beautiful in its own right. As Wilson writes: (p. 115) "The beautiful object is unpredictable, mottled, scabarous, and fractured."


I registered today for the Photolucida Spring 2008 portfolio review. From the Photolucida website, Photolucida is "Every other Spring an international set of photographers and reviewers gather in Portland Oregon for a week-long celebration of photography. Our mission: an increased understanding of the world through photography. By promoting in-depth, informed, and supportive dialog between photographers, gallery owners, publishers and pundits of various sorts, Photolucida promotes the culture of photography. The next Portfolio Review event will take place in April, 2009."

This week I have been going through negatives from the last 3-4 years. The negatives stem from the process oriented project "Grow," most of which I took while living in Arizona. The images from this project eventually took form in my solo exhibition "Ambit Verdure" in 2006 at the Insite gallery in Buffalo. I am now editing these images, in addition to newer images that I took while living in Buffalo. I am currently adding and subtracting, working with color balancing and the overall lighting and value. This current project includes culling some 40 images or so, based on "quality of feeling, color, and light" into a small book.

Dennis DeHart, 6x7 Negative, (Green Chairs, Chino Valley, Arizona) 2005

A NW Sense of Place

It is really good to be back in the Pacific NW. It has been over 9 years since we have lived full time in the region. In honor of being back, I have been spending time reading and reconnecting with the "lay of the land." An excellent book on the natural history of the region is non other then The Natural History of the Puget Sound Country by Arthur Kruckeberg. This is a wonderful and exhaustive volume on the Natural world and really gets one to think about the macro and the micro of the region.

In reading Kruckeberg's book, I also became familiar with the NW photographer Mary Randlett. Mrs. Randlett is apparently well known for her portraits of NW artist such as Graves, Toby, and Tsutakawa. She of course also does landscape photography and many of her images are included in the book. In an internet search for her work, I came across a recent book of landscapes entitled befittingly "Landscapes." I am going to ask the local library if they will get a copy. A quote she mentions that is important to her process is " Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among many mysteries"-Theodore Roethke

In the past, I have generally shied away from big glossy books of color landscape photography. Now that I am back in the NW, I cannot seem to get enough books on the region. The Cascades: A Natural Heritage by Scott Ziegler is a tasteful book documenting the Cascades. The photographs were done primarily from 1979 to 2003 (or so) and were shot in 4x5 and 8x10 chrome. The book includes text that is educational in learning about the various regions and history of the Cascade Mountain Range.


My 2 year old son Asher and I have been learning about our own natural history in our immediate neighborhood. We have been collecting plants and labeling them. Many of the plant are familiar, while others are new. So far we have identified over 8 different species of trees within 100 yard of our house, and some 20 plus other plants including Asher's personal favorite, Salmon Berries.

DeHart and Sons, Photo of Plant Identification chart, 7.2008

Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age

During the 2007 year, I had the opportunity to participate as a book reviewer for Robert Hirsh's book Light and Lens: Photography in the Digital Age. Being a participant in the process of how Bob crafted the book from raw text to a completed, bound, color photo book, was insightful. Part of that process included inviting readers including myself to constantly provide feedback and suggestions, chapter by chapter. In some respects, it had an element of an open source wiki. In essence, I read the entire contents of the book, chapter by chapter, over the course of 6 months or so. In participating in this way, I was able to fully reflect on my own pedagogical and technical approaches to teaching. I was also fortunate, living in the same town, to have lunch with Bob from time to time and develop our friendship.

I recommend Light and Lens on a number of levels. No, I don't get $$$ for recommending the book though I do have several photographs in book. More importantly, I recommend it because Bob Hirsch really knows what he is talking about and writes with integrity and passion while giving you the tools and knowledge base you need to get the tools figured out and the job done. Bob is a working artist who recognizes that the tools he is teaching you about are just one step in the process of making art and expressing oneself to the world.