Photography with Joe

  Hall, Conceptual Photography, and the Difference Between Constructing Meaning vs Discovering It I was told about a year ago that my photography shared similarities with Hall’s work. At first, I resisted the comparison a little. Not because it was insulting — quite the opposite — but because photographic comparisons are often too broad to mean much. Saying two photographers are “conceptual” can sometimes feel like saying both use small cameras. Technically true, but not especially revealing. Still, the comparison stayed in my mind because there is overlap there, even if the routes we take are very different. Hall’s work, to me, feels more stage-driven. More constructed. There is an intentional arrangement of symbolic elements, a deliberate shaping of the emotional field of the image. The photograph becomes a kind of theatre. Meaning is designed into the frame. My work tends to move in another direction. More documentary. More observational. Less interested in constructing symboli...

   Kamibushi — Core Style Elements and Philosophical Framework Foundational Definition Kamibushi is a photographic philosophy centered on emotional residue, perceptual isolation, spatial psychology, and quiet contemporary existence. It focuses less on spectacle and more on the subtle emotional architectures embedded within ordinary public life. Rather than dramatizing reality, Kamibushi extracts metaphysical and emotional meaning from transitional spaces, restrained human gestures, environmental scale, and unresolved emotional states. The style operates through: emotional immediacy philosophical afterimage restraint ambiguity environmental emotional structure modern public solitude liminality spatial consciousness Kamibushi attempts to create images that are felt first and intellectually understood second. Core Philosophical Principles Recognition Before Interpretation One of the central operational principles of Kamibushi: the viewer should emotionally recognize the im...

CITIZEN CANADA PRESENTS 🔴 “BUY, BELIEVE, OBEY: THE ACID-AGE CHILDHOOD EDITION” America once feared the future. Not with nuance. Not with science. But with filmstrips. And so, in classrooms across the 1960s and 70s, the lights dimmed, projectors hummed, and government filmmakers rolled out their latest cinematic crusade: Technicolor terror designed to stop kids from even looking at a sugar cube. The message? Drugs were everywhere. Your friends were probably on them. And if you even thought about LSD, your brain would become a lava lamp with legs. Not education. Not health literacy. But spectacle. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 🧧 “Reefer Madness Reloaded (Kids Edition)” The government’s greatest cinematic hits: orange-tinted hallucination montages, fast cuts, sweaty close-ups, and the eternal warning: “This is your brain… on vibes.” These films didn’t teach danger — they taught aesthetics. 🪙 “When Bureaucrats Discovered Psychedelia” Behind the scenes: grey-suited civil servants ...

 Flowers in Edwards Gardens Toronto  🌼 Front + Middle (Bright Orange) Marigolds (Tagetes) The bold, round, orange flowers with ruffled petals are classic marigolds. They thrive in sun and are often used in rock gardens. 💜 Front + Middle (Small Purple Balls) Gomphrena / Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) Those cute little purple pom-pom flowers are globe amaranth. They stay upright and add great contrast to marigolds. 🟩 Middle Layer (Bright Chartreuse Groundcover) Likely Sedum (stonecrop) , possibly Sedum ‘Lemon Coral’ This is the neon yellow-green, soft-looking, mounded plant. A common filler for sun-loving rock gardens. 🌸 Back Layer (Pink and Hot Magenta Flowers) Looks like Impatiens or New Guinea Impatiens They have broad petals and saturated colors, often used for shade or partial sun beds. 💜 Back Right (Purple Clustered Blooms) Most likely Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia) Upright spikes with many small purple flowers — often called “summer snapdragon....

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  The Tragedy of the Almost-Famous: Completing Campbell’s Circle In every story of ascent, there is a pattern — what Joseph Campbell called the hero’s journey . It begins with the call to adventure, moves through trial and transformation, and ends with a return — the sharing of the “elixir,” the gift of what was learned. Most people understand this as a spiritual or moral process, but it applies just as powerfully to fame. The almost-famous, however, rarely finish the circle. They accept the call — they venture into performance, film, television, social media. They even achieve moments of recognition: a brief flash of applause, a viral clip, a minor award. But they stop there, suspended between the known and the unknown. They treat those fragments of fame as accidents rather than artifacts — isolated triumphs rather than the chapters of a continuing myth. True mythic fame is self-created narrative . The mythic figure knows that attention alone is transient; what endures is coher...

  What the Hell is Red Meat – or Purple Meat, for that Matter? Scholz Journal, Rewritten and corrected by AI When people say red meat , they usually mean beef, lamb, or pork. But why “red”? The answer lies in myoglobin — a protein in muscle that stores oxygen for use during activity. More myoglobin means darker meat. My doctor told me to eat more red meat. Call me a philistine, but I had to admit — I wasn’t exactly sure what counted as red meat . On the plate, if my steak looked like a stoplight — bright and glowing red — I’d be worried, not reassured. Why do some animals have more myoglobin than others? It’s evolutionary biology. Myoglobin works like a tiny oxygen tank inside the muscle. Animals that use their muscles for long, steady effort need more oxygen on demand, so they pack those muscles with myoglobin. Cows and sheep spend much of their lives standing, walking, or chewing. Their muscles are built for endurance. High myoglobin lets them keep moving for hours witho...

  June 4, 2025 – Edwards Gardens, Toronto https://joe-average123.blogspot.com/2025/06/june-4-2025-edwards-gardens-toronto.html TITLE: Youth in Tuxedos (Business Edition) Suits crisp, futures loaded. Western. U of T. Capitalism meets corsage. Neon ties, quiet thunder. The garden blooms — so do they. #PopProm #ModernIconography #StreetArtVibes #CapitalYouth #EdwardsGardens #GreatguyTV #Scholx #Scholz https://joe-average123.blogspot.com/2025/06/june-4-2025-edwards-gardens-toronto.html June 4, 2025 – Toronto TITLE: Two in Bloom First warm day. Last of the flowers. Garden nearly empty — two don’t mind. Western. U of T. Dates waiting. Even the breeze is proud. Toronto prom trivia: 🎉 It’s “grad” not “prom.” 🚗 Party bus over limo. 💸 Average cost: $600 👞 Tux or Timbs — style is plural here. #NeoPop #PromPoem #WarmBloom #StreetIcons #EdwardsGardens #GreatguyTV #Scholx #Scholz Under the warm June sun at Edwards Gardens, the Western-bound grad steps forward, a bouqu...

There is, I find, a peculiar stillness that follows the end of a story too beautiful to last. Not the thunderous silence of tragedy, nor the swelling comfort of closure, but something gentler—a hush, like the sound a candle makes when it goes out. So it is with that curious film, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things , which begins not with an event, but the absence of one: a day that does not end. In it, the world loops, quietly, relentlessly, and within that repetition, two young people find not merely each other, but the exquisite ache of growing up. It is tempting, as the final frames roll, to ask: what happens next? Does Margaret, now freed from the closed circle of borrowed time, collapse beneath the weight of her mother’s death? Does Mark, whose optimism masked an unconscious solipsism, follow her into mourning, or into love? But perhaps the better question is: why do we wish to know? Margaret’s long refusal to exit the loop was not cowardice, but love disguised as ritual. Each day, ...

  The gradual collapse of modern Canada stands as a testament to the vulnerability of even the most advanced societies. It is not the sudden explosion of war or natural disaster that has brought us to the precipice of failure, but rather a slow erosion of the very structures that once ensured stability. In the wake of economic decline, mismanagement, and political inaction, we are witnessing the slow death of the societal contract. Employers who refuse to pay workers for their labor, only to declare bankruptcy without consequence, are a glaring example of a systemic failure that has become all too common. These are not isolated incidents but part of a broader trend: the weakening of labor protections and the erosion of workers' rights. The lack of accountability in the private sector, where the rich grow richer and the poor are left to languish, reflects a society that has allowed its foundations to crumble under the weight of greed and negligence. Equally troubling is the failur...

  High-Density Canada? Or a Grim Future We Can Avoid? Ah, the dream of living in a high-rise where you can practically reach out and touch your neighbor’s cereal bowl. What a time to be alive! As we scramble to house the masses, we’re apparently taking notes from Japan—where the average apartment might be smaller than the average person’s ego. But hey, why not follow the forward-thinking approach of cramming people into boxes? After all, who doesn’t want to live in a glorified closet? Let’s explore this brilliant plan for our future! What We Have Now: A Vanishing Dream Canada is proud of its vast spaces. The kind where you can drive for miles without seeing another soul, or, heaven forbid, someone encroaching on your lawn. The dream of a detached house with a driveway, where children can play outside without being squashed into a concrete jungle, remains the heart of the Canadian ethos. Yet, as we all know, this idyllic existence is shrinking —both literally and metaphoricall...

 This site "VSCO was introduced to me by Alexis , a talented photographer in her own right and a full-time academic in psychology as a random link in her instagram bio . A chance encounter with street photography opened doors to an entirely new world—one that reshaped my perspective and deepened my appreciation for the art form. The Street Photography was my on going Temporal Photography, in this case my child hood elementary School, almost unchanged!  VSCO: History, Economic Model, and Cultural Impact History VSCO (Visual Supply Company) was founded in 2011 by Joel Flory (a photographer) and Greg Lutze (a designer) in Oakland, California. It began as a mobile photo-editing app offering high-quality filters and presets that mimicked the look of film photography. Over time, VSCO evolved into a social platform where users could share images in a curated, aesthetically pleasing environment without likes or public comments—differentiating it from Instagram. Key historical mome...

  [Press Release] Vought International Announces: Paris Olympics 2024 – A Celebration of Unity and Vigilance As the world eagerly anticipates the Paris Olympics 2024, Vought International is proud to stand with athletes and fans alike in celebrating this grand event beneath the iconic Eiffel Tower. This year, the Olympics not only promise to showcase extraordinary talent and sportsmanship but also reinforce our unwavering commitment to safety and security. Eiffel Tower View and Festivities: The heart of Paris will come alive with vibrant Olympic festivities, offering breathtaking views of the Eiffel Tower. Spectators can enjoy a unique blend of cultural exhibitions, fan zones, and live screenings, all set against the backdrop of this historic monument. Our dedication to enhancing the Olympic experience ensures that every visitor feels the magic of Paris. Ensuring Safety Amidst Threats: In light of global concerns, Vought International, in collaboration with French auth...

  Photo Poem Cleo Scholz and Bond Photo by Dr. Scolz Candid moments caught Natural light guides the way Street portrait art. Depth in composition Black and white adds the mood Street portrait magic. City essence found Reflections in the shot, depth Street portraits come alive Crowded spaces abound Interesting backgrounds seen Street portraits unique Environmental Elements add to the story Street portrait’s charm.

 In the year of our Lord, 2025, Rebecca Hardy's name stands emblazoned in the annals of the fashionable world, a beacon of perseverance and fortitude. How the winds of fate did conspire to raise her from humble beginnings! From the modest employment in a factory, wherein she toiled through the late hours, handling the raw meats of industry with naught but her resolve, to now striding the glittering catwalks of international renown—Rebecca’s tale is one that might make the heart swell with admiration and hope. It was in the year 2015 that the world, or at least the realm of fashion, first glimpsed the striking figure of this young woman from Mannheim. A mere 22 years of age, she had garnered the coveted title of Canada’s Next Top Model through no mere accident of fate, but through grit, determination, and an unwavering self-belief. The final challenge saw her and her closest rival, the gracious Sinead, strut upon the catwalk for the renowned designer, Lucian Matis. The judges, with...

  Temporal Photography and Historical Cosplay: A Convergence of Time Time is the most elusive of subjects. We chase it, capture it, and try to understand it, though it always slips ahead. Temporal photography does what words cannot; it arrests the movement of time, freezing change in its tracks. When paired with historical cosplay, it becomes a dialogue—a conversation between the past and the present, told through fabric, light, and shadow. Imagine a knight in chainmail stepping into a city bustling with electric light. He is stoic, his armor glinting under LED streetlamps. The image speaks louder than its parts. It is history walking into the future, but it’s more than that. It’s a reflection of who we were and who we’ve become. Temporal photography thrives on moments like these. The process isn’t just technical; it’s imaginative. A photographer might use long exposure to blur modern movement around a static figure in Victorian attire. Or they might overlay two frames—one histo...

Ghosting   The act of suddenly ceasing all communication with someone the subject is dating, but no longer wishes to date. This is done in hopes that the ghostee will just "get the hint" and leave the subject alone, as opposed to the subject simply telling them he/she is no longer interested. Ghosting is not specific to a certain gender and is closely related to the subject's maturity and communication skills. Many attempt to justify ghosting as a way to cease dating the ghostee without hurting their feelings, but it in fact proves the subject is thinking more of themselves, as ghosting often creates more confusion for the ghostee than if the subject kindly stated how he/she feels. Carmen: How was your second date with Kyle?   Beth: I thought it went well, but I've texted him a couple of times since then and he's been ghosting me.   Carmen: What? I thought he was more mature than that Neotech - refers the the 21st century culture and norm changes cause...