Prayer flags in a new year: may we breathe

Sue and I had a quiet New Year's Eve together, thinking about the best and worst of the year we were putting to bed. 

Springtime under lockdown. It seemed the whole world had entered a contemplative retreat. The earth had a moment of breathing. Sue cultivated a garden for pollinators.

People out of work, unable to pay rent, unable to imagine how to cobble a life together. Children doing online school. Families under stress. Thousands of people in tents on the streets.

The great surge of the Black Lives Matter movement after the horrible killing of George Floyd. I wanted to be out in the streets with the protesters but could not join them because of my age and vulnerability to Covid-19. The violent Surveillance State, the use of citizen journalists' photographs for surveillance and prosecution of protesters, leading to my feeling lost, as a photographer for justice. 

My delight in working on Silent Voices, the effort to stay connected with my grandchildren virtually. 

A world on fire: forest fires and choking smoke in August and September. A hint of what's to come, with global warming. Toxic air.

The violence, corruption, and blatant racism of the white supremacist State. The election.  

For the two of us: photographing Sue's clay work. 

My wish for the world, for 2021: may everyone, human and otherwise,  breathe, live, and work together to save the planet and each other.