Palm Springs and 11AM Light

Rough

We are on a vacation - our first since August 2008 where we aren't visiting family . We are staying four nights in Palm Springs, CA. I will not bore you with all of the travel tales or photos. The latter will take a few days to edit down to a select few.

Today's treasure was finding the Palm Springs Art Museum. I was shocked at how big and complete it is. They have a great exhibit called The Passionate Pursuit: Gifts and Promised Works from Donna and Cargill MacMillan, Jr. It contains the history and many great examples of post modern and pop art since the 1960's. I am very impressed by the collection by the breadth of it and also the willingness to have sexual/nude content for a big mainline museum.

The museum has a great outdoor sculpture garden, while I appreciated the layout and displays of everything, I was saddened by seeing it with the 11am sun. I've always disliked the light from 9:30am - 1pm. To me, it is ugly, unflattering, has washed out colors, and feels awkward. It is like looking at everyone's faults for a few hours. It makes me feel like I do when I look at a Diane Arbus photo, awkward, uncomfortable and ugly. It feels like that pimple growing on your back that you feel when your shirt rubs on it, but you can't reach it.

Yesterday, we were in Joshua Tree National Park (which I will write about more in the next few days). It was mostly overcast with dramatic clouds. That is the only way I appreciate the 9:30-1pm light. It was truly beautiful there.

With those complaints behind me, I do appreciate that sometimes the world needs this awkward, ugly light to show us reality. Not everything is a botoxed, surgically enhanced, image photographed through a polarized filter. It can be really ugly. Maybe with that mindset, I can finally respect an Arbus photo, even though I don't like looking at it.

A Young Brooklyn Going for a Sunday Outing

Diane Arbus, 1966

PHOTO Note: Taken while I am typing this post. Forgive the quality, I used the camera on my Mac Laptop. I am sitting in a lounge chair by the pool at the fantastic Palm Springs B&B, The Rendezvous. We are staying in the Crooners Room. Next to us is the "Pretty in Pink Room" with a Marilyn Monroe theme. She actually stayed in that room in the 1950's. I am not attracted to blond hair, but there is something about Marilyn and Mae West that floats my boat.

I am smoking a fine cigar (a semi-annual treat) and drinking a fine red. The sun is setting over the mountains and the desert is looking magic. Life is good.