New Zealand: More from Matakatia Bay
Yesterday’s post showed photographs taken exactly seven years earlier, on the last full day of our initial visit to New Zealand. Those three views were landscapes seen from the Matakatia Bay side of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula a little north of Auckland.
The final pictures I took that afternoon—and the ones that most excited me aesthetically—were abstractions showing colors and forms on the shore at Little Manly Beach. Some of those photographs have shown up in posts since 2015. Now here are three more for your delectation.
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We [men and women] work side by side, and some of us imagine that because we are equal under the law, we are also the same. We are and should be equal under the law. But we are not the same—despite what some activists and politicians, journalists and academics would have us believe. There seems to be comfort, for some, in the idea of sameness, but it is a shallow comfort at best. What if the best surgeon in the world was a woman, but it was also true that, on average, most of the best surgeons were male? What if the top ten pediatricians were women? Neither scenario provides evidence of bias or sexism, although those are possible explanations for the observed patterns. In order to ensure that bias or sexism is not predictive of who does what work, we should remove as many barriers to success as possible. We should also not expect that men and women will make identical choices, or be driven to excel at identical things, or even, perhaps, be motivated by the same goals. To ignore our differences and demand uniformity is a different kind of sexism. Differences between the sexes are a reality, and while they can be cause for concern, they are also very often a strength, and we ignore them at our peril.
That’s much-needed sanity from A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life, by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein. You can also watch many presentations by them on their Dark Horse podcasts.
© 2022 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
It is so good to read some common sense sometimes. (Although perhaps ‘good sense’ might be a better expression as it doesn’t seem to be too common these days. 😉)
Cathy
February 27, 2022 at 6:55 AM
Well said!
Steve Schwartzman
February 27, 2022 at 7:31 AM
The swirled colors in the first photo are especially appealing. The blue and orange combination reminded me of our blue and orange pimpernels, even though the shades differ. The middle image is wonderfully abstract. I can see either fish or feathers in it — but no feathered fish. It conveys an especially strong sense of movement, and certainly evokes the water that created the designs.
shoreacres
February 27, 2022 at 8:48 AM
What? No feathered fish? For once your bountiful imagination hasn’t gone the extra mile. I’m with you on the second picture’s sense of movement, and of course incoming and outflowing water created those forms. You may see similar forms on the coast near you. There’s always something special about the interface of ocean and land.
Steve Schwartzman
February 27, 2022 at 8:53 AM
I certainly see the fish! the image conjures up a shoal of them – swimming in different directions – for me. And I imagine the first image as ink on water, ready for an attempt at marbling, or perhaps handmade felt, with lots of different fibres. Fun! 🙂
Ann Mackay
March 2, 2022 at 11:14 AM
Ink on water: sounds like you have experience with marbling. I do see what you mean. As for the shoal of “fish,” maybe your final exclamation should have been “Fin!” We have a Shoal Creek in north Austin, but of course these views come from New Zealand.
Steve Schwartzman
March 2, 2022 at 12:22 PM
I had fun doing some rather childish ‘marbling’ at primary school and I’ve seen video of more expert marbling, which also looked fun. 🙂
Ann Mackay
March 2, 2022 at 12:50 PM
And I remember old books with marbling on the insides of the covers or adjacent pages.
Steve Schwartzman
March 2, 2022 at 1:37 PM
Your photos are masterpieces of abstract photography, Steve. I find the second image most impressive.
Peter Klopp
February 27, 2022 at 8:59 AM
Thanks so much, Peter. You know how drawn to abstraction I am.
Steve Schwartzman
February 27, 2022 at 9:01 AM
Opportunities should be available to everyone, regardless of gender, colour, religion. That is the way to true equality, letting everyone have the chance to contribute to society in the way that is best for them. Beautiful photos! Such colours!
anna warren portfolio
February 28, 2022 at 1:24 AM
As an artist, you’re in a better position than most to appreciate those shapes and colors. I got to that beach late in the afternoon and the lighting on some of the formations wasn’t as good as I wanted. I returned the next morning, only hours before heading to the airport for our flight back to the United States, and took more pictures.
What you said in your first sentence is the traditional American ideal. It’s a sad commentary on my country now that many people are working very hard to classify everything according to race and gender and to discriminate against whatever group happens to be out of favor in their delusional ideology.
Steve Schwartzman
February 28, 2022 at 5:38 AM
The top one has gorgeous colors, and the middle one is very neat, and the last one looks like an alien landscape…maybe a Martian one?
circadianreflections
February 28, 2022 at 2:06 PM
I first showed colors from Little Manly Beach like the ones in the first picture back in 2015:
In fact I have a metal print of that linked picture on the wall in our house.
Mars is known as the red planet, but I don’t think it anything as green as the algae (or whatever it is) in the last picture.
Steve Schwartzman
February 28, 2022 at 5:39 PM