[Leica] The View Depends on The Lens You Are Using

[Irving Greines <igreines@GMSR.com>]

Yesterday was an awful and tragic day for all.  The need to vent and voice
dismay, even on a photographic site, is understandable.  I wish the
discussion could always stay on topic, but sometimes it can't.

I condemn what I define to be terrorist activity.  I believe yesterday
involved multiple terrorist acts and that retribution is warranted.  But
that's only my view, shared by most Americans.  Unfortunately, it's not the
terrorists' views and therein lies the problem.

What if we put ourselves in the shoes of the terrorists?  What if they
believe that our country and its beliefs are evil; that our country engages
in terrorism (according to their definition of the term) when, for example,
it uses its military power to subject others to its will; that our country
is raping the environment; etc.?  What if the terrorists consider their acts
against our country to be part of a holy calling and what if striking back
at us (their perceived villains) involves the highest calling, entitling
them to enter Heaven?  I don't agree with such beliefs, but unfortunately I
believe that some of the terrorists (my definition) are convinced they are
pursuing the very highest calling and that yesterday's crimes against our
country were  anti-terrorist heroics (from their point of view).

The world depends on the glasses one uses to view it. That's why I believe
the problem is one of the most difficult our country will ever have to face.
For better or for worse, the world's playing field has been leveled.  The
traditional definition of power has forever changed.  Being a mighty
military power is no longer enough because individuals can now counter that
with conduct that is exceedingly difficult to control in a free society.

I don't have solutions, but I do understand how others can perceive our
country as evil.

To change the subject dramatically, what about yesterday's eerie, haunting,
emotionally charged photographic images?  As I watched television, I
suffered the strangest of experiences.  I witnessed incredible lighting and
powerful subject matter, again and again.  For example, the views of the
Manhattan skyline in incredible, smoky light were unforgettable, haunting
and incredibly powerful because they were so emotionally and tragically
charged.  What an odd feeling to be witnessing such awful waste,
destruction, and misery, while simultaneously seeing one unforgettable image
after the other. Did any of you experience the same strange photographic
experience?