A photographic investigator knows that her subjects have been instructed, early in their life, to start constructing a story about themselves -enriched over the years with bits of experience, failures, successes, oppressed feelings and desires- and then believe it to be true. So naturally they get trapped in that story, rarely managing to escape it’s limitations. But she also knows that in a twinkling of the eye this truth can be realised and the subjects can write a different story, preferably one of harmony, radiance, health, wealth, love and perfect self expression. A happy story.
While a photographic investigator discovers the various facets of her subject’s true nature, she finds it helpful to watch old TV series. They provide inspiration and valuable assistance and clear her vision. This time it was Highway to Heaven, with an angel helping people in California. Somehow it seemed very appropriate.
Zenobia is not just the name of the warrior queen of Palmyra (or of her incarnation) but is also the name of a distant planet. It’s inhabitants have no real existence - they are various moods that make their presence known only by attaching themselves to the matching vibration of a visitor. I took my subject with me in yet another inter-dimensional journey in order to photographically investigate these Zenobian moods. You can see the results of my investigation.
I photographically investigated Vera and her noir world after watching a great television version of Agatha Christie’s “A murder is announced”. This could have been the name of the investigation as the whole atmosphere was overflowed with a sense of secret, of something hidden. Well hidden, in Vera’s case.
My assignment was about another noir woman actor who liked to play to the theater but was born to play in old noir movies. To achieve that she had to time/dimension travel and there was only one photographic investigator who could trace her: me. As you know, I have a great experience in inter-dimensional travel, even though this leads to an inevitable depletion of my power. But with enough good rest in a sunny, tropical island, everything is restored. So, this investigation took place, with me full of solar energy , powerful and positive. Needless to say, I knew where my subject was even before dialing possible other-dimensional addresses. Conclusion: with enough solar power, everything is done instantly…
When a photographic investigator has a chance to integrate to the Clear Light of Objective Reality she never misses it. The urge to be free is great to a photographic investigator who has spent her life investigating the illusions /lives of her subjects, as well as her own. And although she has read many times the Tibetan Book of the Dead hoping that she will remember what to do when the time comes, she also likes the American Book of the Dead, by E.J. Gold and his guidance in the bardos. She must remember, she must remember…: “Now I am experiencing the Clear Light of objective reality. Nothing is happening, nothing ever has happened or ever will happen. My present sense of self, the voyager, is in reality the void itself, having no qualities or characteristics. I remember myself as the voyager, whose deepest nature is the Clear Light itself; I am one; there is no other. I am the voidness of the void, the eternal unborn, the uncreated, neither real nor unreal. All that I have been conscious of is my own play of consciousness, a dance of light, the swirling patterns of light in infinite extension, endless endlessness, the Absolute beyond change, existence, reality. I, the voyager, am inseparable from the Clear Light; I cannot be born, die, exist or change. I know now that this is my true nature.” (― E.J. Gold, The American Book of the Dead)
My assignment was an interdimensional one, after a long time… I had to decline in taking this kind of assignments because of the energy drain that is caused to the photographic investigator by travelling to different dimensions and through time. But this one was very interesting -and I was feeling very strong and full of energy, after all. The portal was in the greek pavilion of the Venice Biennale -like so many are- and it was active only the last day of the Biennale. My task was to photographically investigate and follow a greek shadow that remained greek despite the nationality of the person who was casting it. It was taking their form, but not their nationality. Which, I guess was a tangible proof that nationality is not a real thing…
My assignment was to photographically investigate the latest incarnation of Zenobia, the beautiful, magnetic, powerful and rebel queen of Palmyra. She had assumed the identity of another legendary (but fictional) warrior woman, Xena (also known to TV watchers as Xena, the Warrior Princess). The choice of an alias, although sometimes unconscious, is never too far from the source and this proved to be of great assistance to me. The task of a photographic investigator is to uncover the unlimited, hidden and always powerful identity of her subjects, of which they usually have no memory. Fortunately, this is a temporary situation and the process is greatly speeded up after the resuming of the photographic investigation.
There is an infinite power, a universal consciousness that manifests herself as planets, worlds, people and cities and Venice comes right out of her radiant heart.
Michelangelo said: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”. In the same way, a photographic investigator very often sees various angelic beings (in this case, an angelbird) in the people that she projects in her world and she photographs them until they are free.
A photographic investigator often starts her day seeking inspiration and today was a Florence Scovel Shinn day. The quote that stuck to mind was the following: “The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.” Something to think about…
It was the morning following a gloomy day and night, but it didn’t have to be. It could wonderfully be (and it was, actually) the first morning of an exciting new month. I remembered that Il Mister (a mysterious and gracious figure of Venice, a dear friend who is featuring regularly in my photographic investigations) said to me once that when he was down he was listening to the “L is for Lovers” album by Al Jarreau… Instant lift up. I put the CD on… and it worked. I didn’t have any fresh photographic investigation going on, so I decided to revisit an older one. There are always new things to see with a happier eye. I realised that, as Al says, “we’re in this love (and life) together”. Thank you Al, thank you Mister.
This photographic investigation reminded me the fantastic 1941 film noir with the beautiful Gene Tierney. The only clue that I had was the word “gesture” and although I was very well acquainted with my human subject, I had no idea why I was investigating her for the 100th time… The life of a photographic investigator is full of unresolved mysteries that, just as it occurs in a good film noir, are answered unexpectedly at the end of the film after a plot twist that leaves even the most experienced viewer completely silent. The same thing happened to me at the end of this photographic investigation that “informed” me why it happened the way it happened, at the very end.
Matsuo Basho, the great Japanese haiku master, said: “The temple bell stops -but the sound keeps coming out of the flowers”. In the same way, the award winning cocktail was long finished. But it’s taste kept coming out of my photographic investigation.
Usually I discover the objective of my photographic investigations while investigating my subjects. I have some clues and the general story, but the things I discover by myself (and about myself) are much more valuable. This investigation coincided with my study of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s works and his words "What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you" seemed to fit perfectly to the occasion.
I always felt that I was born in Hawaii and my heart belongs to this place. Hawaii is the heart of the world, shining with divine love. When I was little I was thinking that it would be very cool to be an astronomer and work in one of Mauna Kea’s telescopes. Much later I realised the impact of the telescopes on the islands… My last assignment send me back home at the time of the protests about the new gigantic telescope that was about to be build in Mauna Kea. An assignment in a sacred place at a time of such great importance seemed sacred itself. She was one of the protesters and she was the daughter of a great kahuna. The assignment was just a pretext to be in this magical place and breathe the love. Mauna Kea doesn’t really need any protectors but my love was not letting me leave. So I stayed.
A photographic investigator knows that the most extraordinary things happen in what most people call “ordinary moments”. But then, there are no ordinary moments - you have figured that out by now, haven’t you? So extraordinary is ordinary. And vise versa. And although my most prestigious and mysterious assignments take place in exotic or hidden or even mysterious places, in reality my best photographic investigations happen in between assignments…
In reality I am talking about this wonderful August, with it’s sudden cool breeze that made me feel like I was walking on the shore… My subjects were ready to depart for their summer holiday and although their bodies were still here, their thoughts were totally there. I wasn’t investigating anything in particular, it was just a lazy Sunday in between assignments and I was grateful for the summer, for life, the universe and everything…
It was another Venice assignment and my subject was an ethereal pianist that lived there. I was supposed to photographically investigate a magic light that was pouring out of her in these -not so rare- moments when the Muse possessed her. I investigated her luminous presence in Villa Heriot, in Giudecca and her light was the light of pure love. There is a great Law in the Universe, that like attracts like, and her case was the living proof. Her life was filled with harmony, poise, love, abundance and perfect self expression. And I must say that she has been one of my most beloved subjects.
Since I had to leave the Caribbean to photographically investigate the Lina Ivers case (see previous blog post) I thought that I might as well take care of another assignment, about Vappulin, a new vibrational method that has the ability to help you re-magnetise -in case you have been de-magnetised- all the wonderful things that belong rightfully to you. it is so easy, most people find it impossible to practise. It works differently for everyone, in the sense that everyone has to find their own affirmation that “clicks” , energising in that way the magnetising vibration. My subject used the following: “I am harmonious, happy, healthy and radiant, free from the tyranny of fear. My happiness is built upon a rock”. She said it had miraculous results.
