Question 1: In this chapter Solnit talks about a photographer who made cyanotype photographs of the Upper Mississippi River in a time when that feature of the landscape was in great flux. Look up the these photographs mentioned in the reading and think about what how the color blue influences these images given their context. What do you believe is being connoted through these images being represented in the vivid blue of the cyanotype process?
2. Question 2: On page 39 there is a quote by Gary Paul Nabhan that exclaims “how much time adults spend scanning the landscape for picturesque panoramas and scenic overlooks. While the kids were on their hands and knees, engaged with what was immediately before them, we adults traveled by abstraction.” What does this quote mean to you? Can you think of a time that you realized you were not present in the moment because you were too engaged with some type of technology (phone, camera, whatever…)?
3. Question 3: Many cultures and ideologies across the world, including Buddhism, describe true happiness as the absence of desire. Meanwhile, in this book Mrs. Solnit seems to be infatuated with desire. She believes desire to be one of the key components in a person’s happiness; that it’s something to be harnessed rather than quenched. My question is: Is there a happy medium between these two drastic mindsets? Is there a way that both teachings are correct? And is desire a necessary ingredient in all forms of art (painting, photography, writing, etc)?
4. Create one of your own questions regarding the reading.
