Clifford Geertz, one of the most influential thinkers of our time, here discusses some of the most urgent issues facing intellectuals today. In this collection of personal and revealing essays, he explores the nature of his anthropological work in relation to a broader public, serving as the foremost spokesperson of his generation of scholars, those who came of age after World War II. His reflections are written in a style that both entertains and disconcerts, as they engage us in topics ranging from moral relativism to the relationship between cultural and psychological differences, from the diversity and tension among activist faiths to "ethnic conflict" in today's politics. Geertz, who once considered a career in philosophy, begins by explaining how he got swept into the revolutionary movement of symbolic anthropology. At that point, his work began to encompass not only the ethnography of groups in Southeast Asia and North Africa, but also the study of how meaning is made in all cultures--or, to use his phrase, to explore the "frames of meaning" in which people everywhere live out their lives. His philosophical orientation helped him to establish the role of anthropology within broader intellectual circles and led him to address the work of such leading thinkers as Charles Taylor, Thomas Kuhn, William James, and Jerome Bruner. In this volume, Geertz comments on their work as he explores questions in political philosophy, psychology, and religion that have intrigued him throughout his career but that now hold particular relevance in light of postmodernist thinking and multiculturalism. Available Light offers insightful discussions of concepts such as nation, identity, country, and self, with a reminder that like symbols in general, their meanings are not categorically fixed but grow and change through time and place. This book treats the reader to an analysis of the American intellectual climate by someone who did much to shape it. One can read Available Light both for its revelation of public culture in its dynamic, evolving forms and for the story it tells about the remarkable adventures of an innovator during the "golden years" of American academia.

Bud Dorsey is West Louisville's most iconic living photographer. While working at American Synthetic Rubber Company in the 1960s, he took photographs on the side and began getting his work published in the Louisville Defender and the Courier-Journal. He freelanced like this into the early 1980s, publishing photographs not just in local newspapers but also in national publications such as the iconic JET magazine. In 1981, Bud joined the staff of the Defender as its sole full-time photojournalist. Now able to document the community he cared about so deeply on a full-time basis, he became more prolific than ever. In the 20+ years Bud held that position, no one documented life in Louisville¿especially within the Black community¿more richly than he did. He did it all with modest tools: unremarkable cameras, no lighting equipment, limited supplies of film, and a tiny, simple darkroom. To this day, Bud is seemingly at every event in West Louisville¿cultural showcases, church functions, protests, civic meetings, athletic events, crime scenes, etc. He finds almost everything interesting, and as a result his body of work represents an impressively rich portrait of life in Louisville over the years.The photographs in Available Light show us life in Louisville as many of us have never seen it before. Bud teaches us how to look at our community: with love, curiosity, respect, nuance, concern, playfulness, hope, heartbreak, and pride. Available Light is a love letter to Louisville, crafted outside of mainstream arts and media worlds over the course of decades by a man who cares and has always there to bear witness.

Culled from previously unpublished material, this collection of writing and photography by John Howard Griffin was taken from the period during which he was writing and revising what would be his most famous book, the bestselling "Black Like Me." Living in exile in Mexico at the time, along with his young family and aging parents, Griffin had been forced from his home town of Mansfield, Texas, by death threats from local white racists. Knowing that he would become a controversial public figure once he returned to the states, he kept an intimate journal of his ethical queries on racism and injustice--and to escape from his worries he also immersed himself in the culture of the Tarascan Indians of Michoacan. Accordingly, Robert Bonazzi's introduction contains substantial unpublished portions of the journals, and the main body of the book is made up of three essays by Griffin--one on photography and two about trips he made to photograph rural Mexico.

AVAILABLE LIGHT is a hardcover collection of new short writings and digital photography by Warren Ellis, the creator and author of TRANSMETROLOITAN, PLANETARY, SWITCHBLADE HONEY and MINISTRY OF SPACE. The thirty photographs are taken with an Eyemodule, a camera plugged into a handheld computer. Low-fi high-tech - smaller than a lighter, but limited by fixed-zoom and no flash. It works only with available light. Its eerie, grainily vérité images are coupled with thirty new prose pieces inspired by the pictures, ranging from strange fiction to observational writing familiar to readers of the best-selling COME IN ALONE. Warren Ellis' prose fiction has previously been published in places like the scientific journal NATURE and the two TRANSMETROPOLITAN complementary works I HATE IT HERE and FILTH OF THE CITY.

The past comes back to haunt Captain Jean-Luc Picard in this brand new thriller set in the universe of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Section 31, the covert organization which has operated without accountability in the shadows for more than two centuries, has been exposed. Throughout the Federation, the rogue group’s agents and leaders are being taken into custody as the sheer scope of its misdeeds comes to light. Now Starfleet Command must decide the consequences for numerous officers caught up in the scandal—including Admirals William Ross, Edward Jellico, Alynna Nechayev, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard who, along with many others, are implicated in the forced removal of a Federation president. Meanwhile, deep in the distant, unexplored region of space known as the Odyssean Pass, Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise must put aside personal feelings and political concerns as they investigate a massive mysterious spacecraft. Adrift for centuries in the void, the ship is vital to the survival of an endangered civilization which has spent generations searching for a world to sustain what remains of its people. Complicating matters is a band of marauders who have their own designs on the ancient ship, with only the Enterprise standing in their way....

Light. It's the most transformative tool at any photographer’s disposal. Whether the lens is turned to people, wildlife, or landscape, the creative use of light is often the difference between a snapshot and a powerful photograph. In Chasing the Light: Improving Your Photography with Available Light, renowned photographer, writer, and educator Ibarionex Perello shares his unique insights for partnering with natural light to create evocative digital images. He brings his palpable passion and personal approach rooted in decades of experience, and reveals his honed techniques for controlling focus, exposure, white balance, and sharpness to create beautiful and impactful photographs. In an industry so obsessed with gear, this book bridges the gap between the technical and the creative and returns to a personal, inspirational narrative about perceiving and photographing light. This book will enlighten photographers of all levels about • the elements of exposure, metering, and ISO • light’s impact on color and controlling color balance • combining brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, and pattern enhancing portraits with available lighting • direction and quality of sunlight and shooting in rural and urban landscapes • the power of light in black and white

Digital Photography in Available Light is an inspirational guide as well as a structured learning tool for mastering the essential techniques. Learn how to choose the most appropriate digital camera for your workflow, manage your image files and process images using camera RAW. Try key capture techniques including exposure, framing the image and how to work with the available light in all situations. Explore different styles: panoramas, landscapes, environmental portraits and photo journalism. Understand ethics and law, how to plan a shoot and sell your work. Throughout you'll learn the importance of image design, communication of content and essential techniques for competent and consistent image capture and creation. Includes a full glossary of terms.