I often pay particular attention to how people paint hands. It is not an easy task as anyone who has ever tried doing it can confirm. And clearly, people vary in their ability to capture something that looks like the real thing. In addition, though, I believe that people who lived in eras that depended on the work of hands more than does our own, took extra care to draw our focus to them. Today’s photographs, all from the last 6 days, can attest to that.

Hands hold something of interest so that the gaze moves over to it.

Hands reach,

point,

grab.

Hands represent activities of writing, reading,

 

 

Hands reference thinking, mourning.

Over and over they are central to music being played.

 

 

 

Sometimes they are the foil for detailed fashion exploration.

They pray.

They promise.

And sometimes they simply rest.

For me they often provide fodder for little sketches, montages that play on them with my own invented surrounding, something that reminds me of all the wonderful art I encounter in my travels. Travels that are possible as long as your body is willing, your hands can grab the backpack, your feet can carry you through the landscape, your back is cooperative and your stamina not exactly undiminished but still in existence….”Kinehora,” as they say in Yiddish when they’re thinking “Knock on wood…”

 

This came to mind since on the topic of hands – artificial hands, that is – there is good news. An Italian research team has developed a new hand prothesis that is way lighter and better able to function than all existing robotic models.

And this concludes this week’s travel report; I hope I was able to instill some vicarious joy. I sure had a blast.