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centrifuge

Trevor Williams
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I just got back from a 2 week trip to the amazing little South American country of Ecuador.  The goal was to go there and climb mountains and get photos of the high Sierra, but I came back with much, much more.  The people of Ecuador are amazing, and the world they live in is so much more humble then ours, in every way.  While we Americans stand in mobs screaming like children that our taxes are too high and clutch desperately to our glut's of material wealth like the mythical dragon hoards over it's treasure, the people of Ecuador seemed to work together to overcome the everyday obstacle of life in a country with so much less then we have.  

While there, I witnessed great beauty.  Of course there was beauty in the mountains and the great churches, but the beauty I noticed most was the beauty and unimaginable grace of the Ecuadorian people.  I saw people who had little, give to those who had even less, and I saw those who had the least act with absolutely kindness, while trying to give something beautiful to the world in the form of juggling, or playing a small wooden flute on a sidewalk during the Sunday market.  I watched parents of small children give coins to their children, instructing them to give to the needy on the streets, of which there were many.  

It seems to me that we Americans could learn an awful lot to learn true grace from the small country that straddles the hemispheres...

I took a whole lot of photos while I was there, and I will be posting them over time.  Unfortunately, DA was washing some of my colors out, so I haven't posted new photos in a while, but hopefully that issue is resolved.  Have a happy New Year!

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i suck

3 min read



and no I am not saying that in the
"i'm a tortured and somewhat pathetic
pseudo artist" kind of way.

I mean it in the I am way behind on
responding to comments sort of way.

I went into the hills in December, got
some great shots, got frostbite, got
lethargic, and then got behind...

I am going to work on it, and yes, I
will catch up.  As far as deviations go
I dont know that I'll really get caught
up.  That being said, I have scanned
through them and love a lot of them
so I guess I have to give a big "very
nice" to everyone...

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that which is inspired by music, I will follow briefly
with the verse that continually rings through my
head, swirling with the images that I can't quite shake
from my head until they are purged through art, be it
photographs, lyrics, or the luscious grinding sound of
synthesizers tearing apart wave forms to create the
solace the rest of my life seems to lack... here it is:

"don't close your eyes anymore,
don't cover your ears anymore,
don't shut your mouth anymore,
don't close your mind anymore!
everything is changing a constant flow,
our existence - a photograph,
the time like slow-motion”
– excerpt from ‘Existence’ by Project Pitchfork


I think the reason this particular verse sends itself
spiraling endlessly through my warped brain is because
it feels to me that this should be the mantra of life...
of art...

shouldn't we be drowning in our own inability to
separate ourselves from our desire to think critically
about the world that surrounds ourselves?   Shouldn't
that internal struggle drive us to see the world in ways
outside of the standard point and shoot snapshot
instant gratification world in which we live?   

In this spirit, I am going to challenge myself to critique at least
one image a day.  Aside from that, I will challenge myself
to write a constructively critical comment of every image
I open on this site.  No favorites without comment, that
would be far too easy, and as artists, should we not struggle
on the path less chosen, the path that leads us towards internal
intellectual artistic and spiritual (not necessarily religious, I am
talking about your heart of hearts) growth?  And should we not
view the world as always changing, always growing, and always
flowing toward the development of a world that is open to see the
world in different ways.  

That being said, I hope that anyone who looks at my work will make
the decision to comment, and think critically about my work before
favoriting  it without thinking about why they are doing so.  

Here's to artistic growth!

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So, it only took me a month but I have gotten around to
uploading some photos to the site.  But now that it is done
I don't know how I feel about the changes I am seeing
here at DeviantArt.  

It used to be that the community itself encouraged things
like 'advanced critique' as a method of building a strong
and vibrant community of artists.  Instead, now you have
to pay for the privilege.  I wonder what really drives these
changes... I know money is a big part of it, but I wonder
how Jark would have handled this?  

When I drive by old businesses and they proudly hang big
brightly colored signs proclaiming that they are "now under
new management", we as a society have come to interpret that
as being a positive statement.  But I think the changes here at
DeviantArt are evidence that when an organization finds itself
"under new management", it is not always a good thing.
It seems this site has completed its transformation from a site
by and for artists, to a corporation that exists to squeeze every
cent it can from the people who come here to appreciate the art
created by their fellow 'deviants'.  Marketing has taken front row
with regular e-mails filling up my inbox advertising sub-par
products to fill the coffers of the people posing as heros while
strong-arming money from the wallets of the artists they are already
taking advantage of to sell ad space.

If the administration of this site want to use it purely as a way
to make money, that is their prerogative.  But if that is their goal, then
they should not sell themselves as philanthropic heros donating their
time for the artists who are the benefactors of their grace.  Rather, they
should be honest and up front about their intent.  iStock has done it, and
made plenty of money in their pursuits.  

Given the fact that I have just uploaded a large number of images, I
have given up on the idea of changing the corruption that seems to have
injected itself stealthily throughout the administration of this 'community',
but I cannot submit to this without at least posting this protest to the
demise of the idea that this site was built on.   

r.i.p.
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Oh How I Try

1 min read
to keep this updated!  I am just not good at it, and am so hesitant to pay for an easier time using DA.  I think I am going to upload some of my photos from the last year, I would love to hear what people think!
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Featured

Grace and Ecuador by centrifuge, journal

i suck by centrifuge, journal

everything is changing - part 2 by centrifuge, journal

everything is changing-a eulogy for what once was by centrifuge, journal

Oh How I Try by centrifuge, journal