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Temporary Crusoes


Temporary Crusoes
Photo Information
Copyright: Tom O'Donnell (gunbud) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 4607 W: 4 N: 4484] (20064)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-12
Categories: Daily Life
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-05-23 16:06
Viewed: 425
Points: 36
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
The island as foreign country; the vacationer as admiring expat

by Peter Davison
WE sever most of our ties when we set out for an island, leaving them to be healed after we return. Yet even while we're away, we are not altogether willing to abandon our umbilical connections to the mother continent. What is the mystery of the navel? There seems always to be a larger crowd at the island end of a ferry run than at its mainland end. The busiest, most intense location on any island is the ferry landing, with its raucous comings and goings. The world-weary ferrymen try to look as though they've seen everything; the arriving passengers are keeping their eyes peeled for newness; and the departing passengers look chastened at the thought of resuming life.
We mainlanders who love islands are only amateurs, enthusiasts, self-elected temporary Crusoes. As a young man, I wrote poems to explore the romance of islands, announcing their paradox in a book called The City and the Island: "Halfway between the city and the island I / Am bound for the city." My prediction was, alas, accurate, but I have never lost my taste for isolation.
When my wife and I landed last July on Vinalhaven, a large island in Maine's Penobscot Bay, after a seventy-five-minute ferry trip from Rockland, I was yet again discovering a foreign country. When we departed, only ten days later, I was cheerfully saying "so long" to a familiar realm where I flattered myself I might easily qualify as a naturalized citizen. This harbor, that headland, house, or boathouse, its purpose and its neighborhood, was now known to me. I knew something about the island's seals, its wild mushrooms, its lobsters, its landscape, and its history; I had swum in its abandoned quarries full of fresh water and had tumbled under its chilly and regenerative surf.
Discuss this article in the Global Views forum of Post & Riposte. I spent my island time idly, listening to the huge eleven-foot-high tides bubble and trickle away across mud flats and observing a tentative raccoon tiptoe out to teach her kits how to dig clams and sea worms while the cove was empty. I was surprised at high water when an unsuspected canoe or silent yacht crept up on me as I sunbathed naked. I bristled when teenagers, in their appetite for speed and excitement and boom-box music, revved outboards to a shriek. But human contact, whether terrestrial or maritime, seems of marginal relevance at sunrise over a fjord while a lobster boat chugs hoarsely and dependably out to sea to "haul," or at sunset when the falling light is punctuated by the homeward wingbeats of an osprey screaming to her mate.
parbo, Gerrit, Greg1949, plimrn, dareco, Royaldevon, snunney, Dyerco, Charo, evanrizo, cfreire, gracious, zmey has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

  • Great 
  • parbo Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1883 W: 15 N: 2179] (7813)
  • [2008-05-23 16:51]

Hi Tom,

Your approach to shore is enviable with boat on clear water. Reflection of house and white boats are wonderful with empty cages at left. Congratulations.

Best Regards,

Ertugrul

  • Great 
  • Gerrit Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4365 W: 88 N: 5576] (27313)
  • [2008-05-23 16:58]

Hi Tom,
good arriving picture with the boat pointing to the island. The reflections and lack of humans give the island somehow a non welcoming atmosphere. There is some suspense in the air.
Well done.
Regards, Gerrit

Olá Tom,

Excellent shot of this nice reflections, with lovely colours and perfect clarity.
Well done. Best wishes.
Filipe

Nice note Tom, certainly makes island escape an enviable goal. The shot is very homy feeling, the first thought I had was that this could be home, but like your note that probably couldn't really happen. Great colors and I love the ones with the bow of the boat in the frame...

Greg

  • Great 
  • plimrn Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3931 W: 232 N: 5367] (16878)
  • [2008-05-23 18:32]

Hi Tom,
You've really communicated the island's peace by framing the still water under the bow of your kayak with wonderfful detail and very natural colorsa.
Just lovely!! Well done!!
HLJ, Pat

  • Great 
  • dareco Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1936 W: 53 N: 763] (12566)
  • [2008-05-23 19:08]

This place looks wonderful!! This is really great! I love the colors and reflection, but more than that the mood!! A great 'get-a-way'! TFS and have a good weekend.

  • Great 
  • MarcT Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2049 W: 517 N: 4092] (16390)
  • [2008-05-23 21:58]

Hi Tom,
Excellent light and good colours. The reflections on the water are also very contributive to the overall mood.
Long and interesting note.
Cheers
Marc

Hello Tom,
A nicely balanced composition under a good light. The little red house with its reflection nicely relieves the more sombre tones of the rest of the image. Very good clarity.

Hello Tom,

You state so clearly what many of us feel in our hearts. I think we all have a deep rooted connection which encourages us to seek the natural, the undeveloped and identify with it from some time unspecified ... in the past!

I do love to share this tour of the islands with you, as must many. We are sharing your discoveries!
The nose of the boat leads the eye straight to the safety of the shore, via the refections and the upturned boats, to the focal point of the warm coloured house. I like how it is all highlighted against the sky.
It is only on reflection that I notice the cages (lobster pots) stacked tightly against the shoreline. This gives them a secondary value to the excitement of the island.

Kind regards,
Bev :-)
pl :-)

Nicely done Tom.
The POV from the kayak has served you well. It gives a different but interesting viewpoint. The write up was well chosen.
Phil

  • Great 
  • Charo Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2637 W: 22 N: 5433] (21393)
  • [2008-05-24 6:58]

Hola Tom,
Estupenda luz con buen control de sombras que se aprecian bien. Excelente composición y bonitos colores.
Cordialmente
Charo

Hi Tom,
the boat captain must be very good to sail the boat in idyllic places!-:)
I like here also the very good light balance.
Cheers
Evangelos

Hi Tom
Beautiful view tood from this sail. The colors are vivid and the contrasts, too. You caught splendid reflections. Good job! Best regards, Consuelo

Hello Tom,
I loved the lighting here and makes the place so serene and peaceful!
the reflection really nice with such calm on the water!
very sharp with good colour and details
many thanks for the sharing
cheers
Tony

Hey Tom,
An excellently composed shot of Maine's magnificent scenery. The calm water and the reflections of the house create a very pleasant and relaxing atmosphere. Colors, contrast, light, sharpness and all other technical elements are top notch. Congratulations!!!
Greetings,
Natasha

Hi Tom
très beau paysage de Vinalhaven Island pris à bord de ton kayack, l'eau est lisse comme un miroir avec un beau reflet, belle composition.
Amitiés
Jean-Pierre

Hi Tom, Beautiful looking & well framed scene, very well captured from an enviable vantage point. Excellent light & natural looking colour. Lovely scene & a beautiful note to compliment it.
Thanks
Regards
Santo

  • Great 
  • zmey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1376 W: 102 N: 1430] (5540)
  • [2008-05-28 5:51]

hello tom

very nice again! love the 'in boat' presence that you managed to present us here. very clear and well composed. like those lobster boxes on the left (a tad more light on them would have been nice for my taste). other than that: my compliments, friend!

a good note, matching the mood of the picture!

kristaps

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