Saturday, January 16, 2010

window, vines and snow


Photo by Thomas Merton

6 comments:

  1. It is lovely, isn't it?
    Though it is probably Gethsemani, it reminds me somewhat of what I expect France to be like. But then, Gethsemani was founded by the French Trappists.

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  2. with the recent photographs, i know this may sound odd, but what camera did Merton use?

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  3. Merton started out with an Instamatic - the photo over on the right, the only known photo of God, was made with that camera (according to Jim Forest). As he became more interested in photography, he borrowed better cameras, mostly from his photography mentor, John Howard Griffin. Griffin told him that he would never get much satisfaction from his work until he got a good camera. Merton responded that he had taken a vow of poverty and did not want to ask permission to buy a camera. Hence, the arrangement whereby Griffin loaned him "in perpetuity" some good cameras.

    In the book, "The Hidden Wholeness", John Howard Griffin mentions a Roleiflex and I believe it was a Leica that he took to Asia with him. A closer look at the photo on the right above (looking at Merton looking), the letters on the camera read: ALPA I think.

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  4. thank you Beth...i am 'anonymous' only because i keep forgetting my password!

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