Learning Every Day...

Today I received my latest shipment from Amazon.

• Job Aids & Performance Support by Allison Rossett & Lisa Schafer - I'm on a serious Job Aid kick right now. A really good job aid eliminates the need for training, so I'm striving to become a world-class job aid designer
• The North American Indian: The Complete Portfolios by Edward S. Curtis - As I've made clear here, I'm a big fan of the photography (and dedication) of Edward S. Curtis. I got this out of print book used from Amazon.
  I love photographing people. If you do too, you need to have this book.
• Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor - no, this isn't a comment on my audience, who are fabulous. Instead it's a tribute to the fact that I always learn something from Karen's work with animals. I didn't realize that there is now a skill known as TAGteaching (TAG = teaching with acoustical guidance). I'll be taking the online training for this soon and will let you know how it goes!

Visual Ethnography, Art, Obsession, and Inspiration

While in New Mexico, I renewed my fascination with the photography of Edward S. Curtis.

If you don't know his name, you certainly know at least a few of his remarkable photographs.

I just finished reading "Shadow Catcher: The Life and Work of Edward S. Curtis", an excellent overview of the man's obsessive journey to capture the Indian way of life. 

He spent 23 years (1907-1930) chasing these images and basically went broke in the process. 

It's a dramatic story, to say the least. 

But not a sad one. 

From all accounts, Curtis loved what he did and did what he loved. From this I take inspiration.

He was, without question, a remarkable man who produced remarkable images.

In regards to his work, I'll quote George Bird Grinnell, who said, "The results which Curtis gets with his camera stir one as one is stirred by a great painting. When we are thus moved by a picture, and share the thought and feeling that the artist had when he made the picture, we may recognize it as a work of art."

Amen, brother...