David Grossman (photo) who loves a cup of Dutch coffee, is a good friend of ours and a gifted photographer. He is a life-time student of Theosophy and active in the board of International Theosophy Conferences. On Theosophy Forward we have used many of his images, and also this time, just as we did in the 4th quarter issue 2017 of this magazine, we publish some, at times provocative photos, which will arouse your fantasy and curiosity.
He introduces the series with a quotation by William Q. Judge:
“Theosophists and occultists from the earliest times have held that every object in the world receives and keeps all impressions, not only of all objects that stand before it, but also of all that happens before it; that these impressions are indelible and can at any time be taken off by man's nervous system and from that reported to the mind; and, therefore, that if we possess a piece of stone from the Roman Forum, we can reproduce to the mind, as clearly as a picture, all that happened in the Forum.”
Psychometery by W.Q. Judge, The Platonist, Jan.1884
David, for this particular issue wishes to add:
These photos were made by taking the human form and blending it with the manmade; the idea being that we inhabit all our creations, we impress our surroundings with our life-force, thoughts and feelings. The psychometer is one who has developed the faculty to access this memory bank of nature.
I literally made pictures of friends and family in the studio on a dark background and combined these images with photos made on the streets of Los Angeles and New York, manmade environments. Then through trial and experiment found matches or blends that “sang to me”. I would then sandwich the two negatives together and print them as a single image.
The complete Psychometry Series consists of 32 images, a few of which are presented on Theosophy Forward.
“A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.”
Leonardo da Vinci