on reflections in the glass

The senses deceive from time to time, and it is prudent never to trust wholly those who have deceived us even once.  –Rene Descartes

On the other hand, movies are inherently constructions, with the capacity to fabricate. “Blow Out” has already lied to us by opening with an elaborate fake-out: a sequence from the point of view of a slasher stalking coeds that turns out to be a film within the film.  –“Don’t Get What Makes Brian De Palma an Auteur? Try These Two Films,” New York Times

Serious thought or consideration: he doesn’t get much time for reflection. An idea about something, especially one that is written down or expressed: reflections on human destiny and art.  –Reflection

The act of reflecting, as in casting back a light or heat, mirroring, or giving back or showing an image; the state of being reflected in this way. An image; representation; counterpart.  –Reflection

When my days pass, each one I recognize. My neighborhood seems the same, more or less. My routines change but the days appear the same. I reflect back, and I am sometimes not sure which day was which.

I have seen a word in the context of a text and looked again; it was not the word I had seen, or thought I had seen. Somehow my mind had suggested one word, but I discovered a second or two later that it was not the actual word on the page. I saw the word “excellent,” for example, but on the page was “excitement.”

Once, the name “Sherlock,” as in Sherlock Holmes, seemed odd, truly impossible as a name. “Holmes” was all right. That seemed correct. But “Sherlock” was alien. It was if I had never heard the word before. I have been reading the “Adventure of Sherlock Holmes” stories since I was a kid.

I remember when the clever Perry Mason pulled into court a look-alike of his client to test a witness’s veracity. In another case, a witness did not divulge that she wore glasses when she saw the suspect commit the crime.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

I am addicted to the New York Times puzzle called Spelling Bee. It has a honey comb shape with six different letters surrounding another letter. One must find words with four or more letters while always using the center letter.

There is a button that turns the letters, rearranging them, so you see them in a different configuration. Why is that an important? The letters are the same, the center letter stays in place, and only the outside letters change positions. By seeing them in a different way, one recognizes more words. The brain seems to freeze after awhile on the look of the letters; but when they are moved around, other possibilities for combinations emerge.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

It was a difficult day, years ago, as a young person, when I discovered that the pictures I took with a film camera did not represent what I had seen. Not really. I thought it might be my inability to process the negatives properly. The box camera I made, after all, was homemade, not a real camera.

But they did reflect what I had seen, somewhat. The shapes were there. But again, they seemed askew, sometimes. The colors were all wrong, but color was there. I could see them, the colors. But the reflection of what I had seen at the moment of taking the photograph had not appeared in the image.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)

The digital images I take now are no different. The sophisticated software for developing RAW images offers another world, reflected but not actual, sort of. The shapes are there, the color appears, and they are genuine, but like the strange words and the familiar arrangement of letters, the images seem imaginary.

All the images here are reflections. They are true in their way but not really. Objects exist in space that cannot. I can see through objects like Superman. I bear witness and will swear in court that I saw what I saw. I do wear glasses.  (Click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail. Cliquez sur une vignette pour l’agrandir.)