Another fabulous trip to look at art.  We went to Philadelphia during the teacher's convention.  I spent Saturday in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  There were two exhibits I wanted to see: a contemporary photo exhibit and one of the work of a guy I had not heard of.  The contemporary one did nothing for me.  That was the one I had hopes for.  Bleh.  But the other one?  Whoa.  The photographer - Dave Heath - is someone I wish I knew of earlier in my life.  I would have enjoyed finding this kindred spirit years ago.  His work was so "me" in many ways.  He is clearly a man who likes his solitude and likes to observe.  He is also clearly sensitive to the good and bad going on around him.  His photographs made me feel so un-alone, even though others would see nothing but loneliness in them.  I was talking to the gallery guard about the work at the end.  I told him he must love spending all this time with this work.  You could look in the eyes of the people and Heath captured them in such a way that you could almost have a conversation just looking into their eyes.

I also got the feeling I would really like to talk to Heath about how he views the world and the ethics that matter to him.  That's the kind of person I could enjoy being friends with.  He might have been shooting for himself, but the images he captured could enlighten a great deal of this society.  And they aren't in your face like Mary Ellen Mark's or Diane Arbus' work.  His photos from his time in Korea say more about war than any battle field image.  His shots of African American men and boys have more about racism and life under racist American law than any image of a riot or some such event.  I was the only visitor to this exhibit that took as long as I did.  Others - all older than me - breezed right on through.  I wonder if not many people get the meaning or the message.

One thing that upset hubby and I while in Philly: the increased number of homeless people.  We don't know the shelter situation in that city, so we could only speculate.  There was one guy with a cat - Socks! - and hubby gave him money for food.  Then, the next day, while hubby was out and about, he got to talking to another guy and bought him lunch and milk.  We donate to our local food pantry every time the Boy Scouts hold a food drive.  We donate to food pantries, homeless advocacy groups, and such.  And I think that everyone has the same attitude until reality smacks me in the face.  I am still correcting students who refer to "bums" and "hobos" and think it is ok to photograph them as a funny subject (though I will be surprised to get this with this year's bunch).  I am still encountering people who "tsk tsk" when they see men and women in need at highway exits asking for money.  Have you ever understood the sincerity of the thank you you get when giving them something?  I am still having to grit my teeth when acquaintances refer to areas as "ghetto", ignorant of the hypocrisy of using that word when you are not above frequenting that area of a city, but not smart enough to acknowledge your part in perpetuating that situation in society.

In ridding myself of one major source of negativity in my life, and having a wonderfully enlightened group of students this year, I am realizing I have less and less tolerance for things in people in my peer group.  I have little patience for ignorance disguised as smug above-it-all attitude, thinly veiled racism (like hitting the door lock in my car when riding through a neighbourhood a block away from the club you aren't above frequenting every weekend), and general lack of ability to be a productive, sympathetic part of society.   Too many of my peers have grown up so sheltered that they have an inability to have any compassion for people unlike them who have a rough time.  There is an inability to look beyond their prejudices.  Looking at this exhibit in Philly made me realize that there are others who do see more clearly and I need to find those people and surround myself with them.