HOMAGE

Wednesday, March 13, 2013.  Palau.  I can never look at fowl without thinking of Jakuchu's Colorful Realm.  This particular rooster was in Palau, part of Micronesia, preening in the early morning sun, before I left to dive far out in the Pacific.  He was a beauty.  His contortion turns him into a ball, with a tail, seeing where he has been but not where he is going to.

FIGHTING COCK

June 27, 2010. Gay Pride in Minneapolis. Every now and then I am tempted to ask to photograph the work on a body. Mostly I do not, it is too fresh, bright, new, untested and without depth. I saw only the tail feathers, and then asked to see the rest. This bird was muscular, arched, ready. The colors were still vibrant, the beak nasty and pointed, angry. I am not sure my arm would be so willing a canvas.