Picture of the Week #74 "Monks Making Mandala"

Picture of the Week #74 "Monks Making Mandala" Thimpu, Bhutan 2000 Signed and Stamped

I adore Bhutan, the Kingdom high up in the Himalayas, East of Tibet, South of China and North of India. What makes it so special are the people, the customs, the landscape and most of all their hospitality. Bhutan might just be Eden on earth. The rolling mountains and vegetation are out of a storybook. There are no power lines. No plastic, no traffic lights, and virtually no crime. The King's mandate for his people is happiness. Health care, work, and education are guaranteed to the residents. They all dressed in traditional robes and the women all had the same hair do when we were there 10 years ago. That might have changed. What has not, is that they only allow about 5,000 visitors in to the country every year. It requires a special visa and you can only fly in on their Druck Airlines from 3 neighboring countries. They had the fastest internet connection while we traveled from one end to the other over the 15 or so days that we were there. After all they only had phones installed in 1988. Bhutan will always remain one of my favorite places and I highly recommend anyone interested in enjoying a different culture to visit Bhutan, the friendliest place on earth. This image was taken in one of the many monasteries that we visited. The gentleness of the Buddhist people was apparent wherever we went.

Picture of the Week #73 "Mazatlan Marketplace

Picture of the Week #73 "Mazatlan Marketplace" Mazatlan, Mexico 1974 Signed and Stamped

When I first moved to Los Angeles, the lady I was living with suggested we take off for a couple of weeks to Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Never one to pass up a travel op I said sure let's go. And off we went. I loved it. It was safe in those days and the people were friendly and the scenery picturesque. At the indoor market I took this photo which I later went on to paint from and subsequently sold the painting to rock and roll lead singer and guitarist Dave Mason who I directed in Music Videos. Dave had a great house in Sierra Retreat near Malibu and it hung proudly for years. Then we lost touch.

Picture of the Week #72 "The Art Restorer"

Picture of the Week #72 "The Art Restorer" 1972 Paris, France Signed and Stamped

This image in particular represents the photographic journey that I have pursued my entire life, that of the observer. Here I was walking in Paris constantly taking pictures of people doing every day things, but I didn't know them. I was just recording them. Always the observer, rarely the participant. Passing by this window and seeing this conservator restoring a painting of a nude woman, I realized my path was to be a voyeur through a camera lens. It is probably one of the most satisfying crafts and talents that I have. My enjoyment is to walk the streets of strange or exotic cities and to take pictures. For years I never showed any of these photos to anyone. They were only for me. Then I began to paint pictures using these images as my sketch book, my reference material, my inspiration. Then one day in 2003 I dropped my paint brush and began to scan these filmed pictures into my computer, manipulate them, size them, change them to black and white, enhance or correct the aperture and sometimes re-crop. And other times I just printed them out just as they were snapped. They became a portfolio of my memory. This is one of my absolute favorites. It says it all.

Picture of the Week #71 "Clock Repair"

Picture of the Week #71 "Clock Repair" 1989 Paris, France Signed and Stamped

I probably should have titled this image "Clock Repair in the Musee Dorsay" as that was where I photographed it. It was during the near completion of my around the world journey that started in Tokyo and went West to Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Cairo and Paris before returning home to L.A. Now it's 20 years later and I'm planning another around the world trip. This one with my incredible wife Ann. I have no idea where we will be headed but I know it will be another memorable excursion. As the clock shows, only time will tell.