Juanita and Lupe, the faithful helpers of this photographic investigator, come from Mexico. In Acapulco, where I met them for the first time -during a very long photographic investigation-, were known as “Cocodrilo y Camarón” (The Crocodile and the Shrimp"). They started of as a team that had the ability to bend space and reality in general and this attribute proved to be very useful to me, as, at the time, I was in one of my inter-dimensional assignments and my energy was somewhat depleted by the constant altering of realities. Since our first collaboration, we became inseparable…
A photographic investigator realises sooner or later on her constant journey that she is a traveller. A traveller who is eager to reach her destination quickly, does not look back to see by what road she has come not does she ponder about what she has seen on the way or what she has gained by it, says Sri Anandamayi Ma. Exactly like that, she advises, thoughts of the past must be cast aside in the aspirant’s life.
Although a photographic investigator is trained to interpret the visible, she has tools to her disposal that allow her to penetrate the invisible. Reflections are one of these tools, as are shadows. A hidden element always revels itself in a reflection and everybody knows that a shadow doesn’t lie…
Mornings are the most powerful time of the day for a photographic investigator. And while she can best express the light that shines in her heart with each sunrise through photos, there are other enlightened beings who manage to do this with words. In Waldorf education, founded by Rudolf Steiner, the children say this “Morning verse” every morning:
Sometimes a photographic investigator tests herself just to see if former subjects would produce the same insights in the present. They don’t of course… Something new, something exiting is always around the corner. This is a promise that can’t be broken.
A photographic investigator suspects from the beginning that she operates in a make believe world and tries to capture it’s aspects. But there comes a time when suspicions become an undeniable reality and the confinements of Disneyland seem to close in on all its characters. A photographic investigator knows then that it is time to make use of her freedom pass and leave Disneyland.
Even the most popular photographic investigator -a trait photographic investigators are not usually known for- observes a sudden discomfort generating from her usual subjects after 5-7 years of continuous photographic investigations. We call it “The 7 year subject itch” or, for simplicity reasons, “The 7 year itch”. It goes away on the 8th year though…
“Stillness” is the message of a praying mantis sighting and it comes when it is a virtue most difficult to adopt. But then, a photographic investigator never has random sightings or encounters and she knows there are messages and guidance everywhere. Her job is to watch, receive and photographically investigate…
The clue for this photographic investigation was “The van”. Fortunately, an experienced photographic investigator is used to think out of the box and rarely takes her clues literally. It was very easy to locate the miniature van and photographically investigate the subject behind it. Not that I am complaining, but sometimes I think that my mysterious -but very generous- employers need to challenge me a little more…
A photographic investigator sooner or later realises that there is a distinction between the screen upon which a movie is projected and the movie itself. Many things happen in that movie and many feelings are evoked to the poor viewer, but the screen remain unchangeable. In times of pressure or general fear and anxiety, a photographic investigator always reminds herself: “Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists…”
In dark times shamans had to protect themselves under an energetic cloak. Likewise, good witches had to disguise themselves in darkness, in order to awaken in us, undetected, the sparks of love and light that connect us to the divine. To be photographically investigating one of these exceptional creatures was a rare privilege and I enthusiastically took the assignment, disregarding the ensuing depletion of my energy - inter dimensional photographic investigations tend to have that effect on me…
This was the code name for an urgent, after midnight photographic investigation of Zenobia, in colour. I have been known to accept the challenge of a colour assignment under conditions that cloud my judgement, like that heat wave that tormented Athens for over a week. I didn’t like it, but a photographic investigator never goes back on an engagement, so I reluctantly finished the investigation. Once again, I swore it was the last time…
“New foundations and new partnerships, celebrations and meeting with compatible souls”. This is the message that Juanita and Lupe, my faithful cat-helpers received and gave to me this very hot morning. It was the last day of June of a very strange and particular year and although the augurs of our times were conveying messages of dystopic possible futures, I was called to photographically investigate the absolute incarnations of boldness, beauty, wit and joy that were here -according to my helpers, who always know more than they reveal- to lift us up. This brought to mind one of the affirmations of Florence Scovel Shinn: “I now put to flight the army of the aliens (negative thoughts). They starve on faith and feed on fear”. Boldness is an expression of fearless faith that everything works for our good and beauty is an expression of inner harmony that helps us remain unmoved by appearances. Looking with the corner of my eye -like only photographic investigators can- I could see renewal smiling at us around the corner. She was most welcome.
My new subject was working in the Old Curiosity Coffee Shop and I should know what clues to look for, except… I never got to read Dickens’ book -I had it in my library though! So I knew that the environment, though very pleasant, wouldn’t help me to complete the photographic investigation. She was known as the “Cat Mistress” because she loved and protected cats -and she was equally loved and protected by them. Her totem animal was the Caracal, a beautiful wild cat species that could jump 3 meters in the air and catch birds! My totem is the black bird and we could obviously have a conflict of interests there, but what helped me approach her was the recent appearance of the jaguar as my spirit animal -a sort of special, temporary messenger. This way, the necessary compatibility was achieved and my photographic investigation started.
From Crete to Naxos, from Theseus to Dionysus, from mortality to immortality… My assignment was to follow the “mitos” (thread) of Ariadne, my new subject, out of the center of the labyrinth after the discovery of the great secret. Why would I want to return, some may ask. It’s simple. I was engaged to undertake several more photographic investigations before I departed from this dimension. And a photographic investigator never falls back on her commitments.
Photographic investigations, just like their subjects -the people- are never lost. They are always where they are. But very often they found themselves outside of a photographic investigator’s present dimension - but a photographic investigator is an apt dimension crosser. So inevitably they will meet. Just like it happened with this investigation. It was November of 2019 in the planet of Venice, after the great “acqua alta”…
The code name for this assignment was “Magnificat” (My soul magnifies the Lord). Immediately the reality of something that Lester Levenson pointed out struck me: that when you dive into the very core of a feeling, you will observe that nothing is really there. Like looking at a magnified object. The more magnified it is, the less detectable it is. My subject was a heiress experiencing an intense feeling of unease and dissatisfaction about the fact that she had to pursue studies in theology in order to receive the 24 billion dollars that were hers… A photographic investigator must let her subjects realise the truth on their own, though.
Another photographic investigation, another mystery with a code name… This time my subject was a renown spacecraft designer and the possessor of a classic greek beauty.
