Bur oak acorn

From October 4th at the Wildhorse Ranch subdivision in Manor comes this Medusa of acorns borne on a bur oak tree, Quercus macrocarpa. You could call the photograph minimalist in terms of composition, even as the acorn’s cap is maximalist in details. Below, you get to see what the leaves of this kind of oak look like.

As in other recent portraits, the preternaturally dark skies come from using flash and a small aperture (f/22 in these two photographs) to get increased depth of field and lots of details in focus.

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If you’ve studied 20th century dictatorships, you know about Stalin’s purges in the Soviet Union. Regarding the Wokiet Union that America is threatening to become, you probably didn’t hear about the recent purge at the Art Institute of Chicago. The museum purged its entire staff of docents, who were highly trained, had an average of 15 years of experience, and who worked for free. Why did the museum throw away such a great resource? Because most of the docents were white. Replacements will be chosen via “an income equity-focused lens.”

© 2021 Steven Schwartzman