Julian's Humble Hubris

See the above region on Google Maps After our landfall and initial exploration of the western tip of Haiti in  part 3 , it's time to cross the southern part of  Hispaniola , the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba; on the west side of the island, where we landed, is the country of  Haiti , while the eastern side is occupied by the Dominican Republic . Hispaniola was the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, founded by Columbus on his voyages in 1492 and 1493. Large Caribbean islands provide a fantastic mix of tall mountains and a lot of coastline: excellent flight-simulator locations, as far as I'm concerned!  Hispaniola also offers large, gorgeous lakes! Topographic map of Haiti :   map     Crossing Over to the South Coast For starters, I re-cross the western tip of Haiti, this time south-bound.  An excuse to re-visit the very scenic "Pic Macaya" National Park that I first visited in...

Split-Image Dream We all know it's never straightforward to describe artwork in prose!  An interview format can help get depth without getting lost in a long artist's statement.  So, I'll be answering a few questions... If you wish, you can first take a peek at my portfolio . Q: In a nutshell, what is it about your photographic artwork that you try to capture? A: I use the human figure to evoke moods, suggest stories and explore personas, so as to create timeless, magical worlds that convey a sense of indomitable vitality. Q: What settings do you use, and why? A: Many of my photos explore a person's intimate bond with their environment, especially Nature - a spiritual source of energy that gets absorbed and re-radiated by those who inhabit it, explore it or dance in it. Sometimes, the interaction involves other elements, often surreal - including unusual structures, fire or moonlight.  I'm also fascinated by the extraordinary fluidity and mys...

See the above region on Google Maps At the end of  part 2  of our round-the-world tour , we had just landed on a tiny airstrip upon making a first landfall at the western tip of Jamaica, arriving there from Cuba by way of the Cayman Islands. If landing the larger 6-seater airplane, the Beechcraft Baron 58 , on that tiny airstrip wasn't a workout enough for my still-limited landing skills, later landing on an aircraft carrier , while in transit to Haiti, certainly stretched my abilities!  Fortunately, I had fortified myself with a training video on handling sideslips , i.e. fine alignment with the landing strip.  That has been my Achilles' heel so far: ending up a little diagonal and/or offset, just as I'm about to touch down...  Getting better, though :) North-West of Jamaica : Montego Bay In Jamaica, I've been fascinated by two gorgeous bays: the first one is Montego Bay, close to my original landfall on the island. Here are two v...

“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to a job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, car and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it.” -Ellen Goodman That’s why I have, to a decent extent, navigated AROUND “normal” most of my life... I’ve been blessed with a deep curiosity, a sense of wonder – and a nonconformist streak – that have helped me avoid getting completely trapped in the swamp of “mainstream normal.” That applies to my dual identity as an artist and as a scientist. In my identity as an artist – well, nonconformism is a hallmark of being an artist! In my identity as a scientist – Science is about disrupting default beliefs, in fact on a Grand and profound Scale!  Think about concepts such as evolution, the firmament, spacetime: “Humanity has believed something since time immemorial… but, hey, maybe let's change it!” ...

See the above region on Google Maps So, I'm planning to go around the world, starting in Miami - and I'm still in Cuba...  I'd better step on it!  In part 1 , we left off on a cluster of little islands off the north coast of Cuba, east of Havana. While heading south, halfway through crossing the narrow side of Cuba, someone in my household turned on her hair dryer, and overloaded the circuits: the computer rebooted and I lost the flight, grrr! But in the Grand Scheme of Things, it was perhaps a good thing: it motivated me to learn how to pilot a faster airplane, the slightly-larger Beechcraft Baron 58 .   I can now zip along at speeds around  200 knots (230.156 mph or 370 Km/h), instead of chugging along at a meager 130 knots (150 mph or 240 Km/h.) Crossing Cuba North-to-South Large topographic map of Cuba Approaching the north coast of mainland Cuba in the new airplane type Crossing mainland Cuba north-to-south in the roomier airplane...