On User Manuals, Digital Books, Travel, The Importance of eBooks and The Foresight of Thom Hogan
I like physical books. By that I mean I like a book I can hold in my hand, feel the texture, and maybe even revel in the smell of the paper and the ink. I like to consume well-done images that inspire or instruct. I like books that open themselves flat and allow me to look at them without having to hold down both sides of the tight binding of a signature in the book without being afraid that the book would snap closed if I turned lose with one or both hands.
But then I have to say that there is a “but” that goes with all of that. The bigger a book gets the less likely I am to have it along when I want it. Big books in heavy bindings don’t fit easily into the weight requirements of modern-day air travel. They’re, well, “big” and “big” and “ease of travel” are oxymorons. They just don’t work interchangeably.
Nature is the greatest teacher of mankind. In it we find ourselves revealed. To humbly read its lessons and thereby transform ones’ self is to give birth to the deeper soul. My montages are my meditations within this often fragile, yet persistent, living realm where our own impact is so palpable. Indeed, we are a part of nature itself, not separate from it, and our interaction within this world determines our own identity and substance. Hopefully my montages will trigger a realization of the importance of that powerful relationship.