The picture below was taken from the New York Times on August 24th, 2016, and shows a Turkish tank advancing to its' country's Syrian border. For the purpose of this blog entry, the country or reason for the impending incursion is unimportant.
I must admit that I feel a bit insensitive to the death and suffering caused by military matters in choosing the photograph below for basically aesthetic reasons. Still, I find the photograph alluring, and believe that I should be able to speak about matters of beauty without too much worry or guilt.
Although the hazy quality from the kicking up of dirt must have been quite uncomfortable for the person taking the picture, it gives the image an appearance of a cool, blue-grey tint. I find it pleasurable and relaxing to look at, despite the circumstances of the environment there. It reminds me of sepia tone photographs and the soft focus often used on the lenses of cameras for the filming of self-consciously aging film stars.
I've now looked at this picture a few times since I first saw it a week ago, and I have just noticed for the first time that the tank actually seems to be moving away from the camera. I had previously seen it as moving towards it, and perhaps I am still incorrect in its' orientation, but I like that it appears ambiguous enough to me to have this confusion. It leaves more room for my imagination to wander when looking at it.
And what about those big black letters on that white background? Although I am sure they serve some military purpose, I can't help being reminded of the bibs worn by athletes to identify themselves during sporting competitions. It leads me to see the vehicle both as a tank and tank top, and therefore more difficult for me to construct a simple narrative when I look at it. This helps me see it less restrictively.
While I wish that the open-ended were more comfortable to me outside of times of quiet meditation, like writing, I hope that I can use these times to better unlock those others.
