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Understanding Babylon
Published: 2004-12-16 10:18:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 22930; Favourites: 204; Downloads: 10448
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Description
I am a son of Babylon. Weeping on the coffin of enlightenment. Cowering in the shadows of potential. Wrapped and disciplined and punished as the echo of stars ripple on the back wall of my attention. Watching the inside of my head while dreams of flame seal my eyes.I am a friend of Icarus. I am a brother of Phaethon. I am always a question. I will never be an answer. I am a product of science, I wear the psychology of history. Each book is a brick in a foundation destined to crumble. The gods would rather show me a furnace than a sun.
To understand me, you must understand Babylon. You must understand what the gods have done to humanity. You must understand I am human.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
The gods are not cruel. They are afraid. They work dissent into the architecture of civilization. They hold fire in the heavens and burn those who come too close. They have crafted mythology into a propaganda campaign.
All to ensure that we will forever maintain a fear of heights.
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Comments: 101
wow.. In thought the shadow was the head.. freaked me out. anyway, nice shot. Like the words you wrote..and. yeah, great concept.. what would we do if we had no fear.. hmmm.. I can think of plenty of things I'd do.
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wonderfully taken.realli like it alot! like they say..a picture indeed speaks of a thousand words..
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...didn't mean to press submit so soon.
I like it because of the simple way you tried to bring accross a complex idea.
Just a human and a ladder (or is there more? 
Again, fine work
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I adore this piece, it's beautiful! I've never seen anything with such an image before.
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Wow, thats beautiful. I ,ove the gray tones and the soft, dark, lonely feeling of the pictuer, its powerfully at work. Gorgeous work. Well done. 
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yes...a fear of heights that binds us to the filthy earth.
very moving words, the image is lovely as well: It reeks of the insecurities of humanity.
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That's just the pic that ever deserved the DD the most...
I'm so impressed by the combination of the pic and the description that I took a screenshot and put it on my current desktop as a wallpaper...
the description is just so great...
All to ensure that we will forever maintain a fear of heights....
If a top favourite ever would exist, this pic would get it immediately...
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Amazing! The picture itself is skilfully done and is very expressive and successful, and also the concept is so interesting and strong! The description of the picture is a piece of art itself! Congratulations!
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A step ladder to where? Babylon? or have you come down the ladder? Nice image and prose.
Fresh -
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-blinks as all the words she was going to use for this is ripped away by the previous commenters- wow. it's just...perfect.
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A truely brilliant piece. I can only strive for the words required to do the piece any justice.
The commentary works so amazingly well with the concept and composition of the the entire piece.
Absulutely brilliant indeed.
~Mimic
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To understand me, you must understand Babylon. You must understand what the gods have done to humanity
oh, thought it was only a christian thinger, monotheistic, and all
[link]
babylon
the Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning "The Gate of God." In the Assyrian tablets it means "The city of the dispersion of the tribes." The
monumental list of its kings reaches back to B.C. 2300, and includes Khammurabi, or Amraphel (q.v.), the contemporary of Abraham.
[Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary]
cool
whores of babylon
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"i must not fear
fear is the mind-killer
fear is the little-death
that brings total obliteration
i will face my fear
i will permit it
to pass over me & through me
and when my fear is gone
i will turn and face fears path,
and only i will remain"
dune
"courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear" - mark twain
"there is nothing to fear but fear itself" - franklin d. roosevelt
"courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear" - ambrose redmoon
"the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - franklin d. roosevelt
"we fear violence less than our own feelings. personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict" - jim morrison
"the fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything" - eric hoffer
"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time." - Mark Twain
"he who fears something gives it power over him" - ?
"to be feared is safer than to be loved" - niccolo machiavelli
SEAS DO YOU ONLY COMM U NI NI CATE IN CITES OR WHAT
no, pics too [link]
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Don't forget:
"A terrible thing, To live in fear." - Blade Runner.
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"quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? that's what it is to be a slave"
chriminalTHOUGHTslave
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I love your passages included with this, it amplifies the piece tenfold.. wonderful achievement welder.
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beautiful. really really beautifull.
love the pose and lighting and the story behind it gives it something extra.
oh and congrats on the dd btw
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i'm just going to say that's one of those photos that are ringing true when the term "pictures worth a thousand words" comes up. that's a great picture...very eye catching, great lighting and the lines / shadow are awesome.
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Darn, I was about the say the same as ~ KarmaGhost
Not really, though
You know, sometimes there's pictures that just leave you stunned, render you speechless and make your mind both numb and spinning with ideas/thoughts/etc ... this is one of them. I wish I could say something profound or remotely intelligent, but I can't. All I can do is 
Oh, and 
P.S. And I am sure you are going to climb that ladder without burning your wings
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I love the comment, and I like the image, but I don't think they go all that well together.
I think perhaps that the ladder is a little short to fit the metaphor. something taller, a taller ladder, a building (sky scaper?) or even a tree may suit it better. maybe simply a change in perspective, one looking up at the ladder would be good.
I can see that you've put a lot of effort into setting up the lighting, but I think the situation (the rough floor and walls) detracts from the piece.
the model (you?) hiding facing in to the corner takes away from the feeling of fear-of-the-ladder, and makes me wonder what else his back is turned towards (something else in the room?). perhaps an outside setting would be better, a clear sky would present less distractions as a background.
my version of this would show the semi-insane, fearful face from ground height, with the ladder above, over one shoulder, possibly with the sun behind it, representing ultimate success. I'd have to brush up mightily on my photographic skills first though
I like it, but it feels a little disjointed to me. though maybe I'm just missing the point you are trying to make
naught
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I love the comment, and I like the image, but I don't think they go all that well together.
I think perhaps that the ladder is a little short to fit the metaphor. something taller, a taller ladder, a building (sky scaper?) or even a tree may suit it better. maybe simply a change in perspective, one looking up at the ladder would be good.
I can see that you've put a lot of effort into setting up the lighting, but I think the situation detracts from the piece (the rought floor and walls). and the model (you?) hiding facing in to the corner takes away from the feeling of fear-of-the-ladder, and makes me wonder what else his back is turned towards (something else in the room?). perhaps an outside setting would be better, a clear sky would present less distractions as a background.
my version of this would show the semi-insane, fearful face from ground height, with the ladder above, over one shoulder, possibly with the sun behind it, representing ultimate success. I'd have to brush up mightily on my photographic skills first though
I like it, but it feels a little disjointed to me. though maybe I'm just missing the point you are trying to make
naught
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I love the stair and shadow work !
great b&w !
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This is a really beautiful piece. It's rather disturbing, but the effort and structure that went into it is greatly admired.
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I think it is clear that you present two things, neither of which are so anti-theos or existentialist as every other commenter has seemed to grasp. For one, you widdle the human psychology into two fears: the fear of success, and the fear of failure. In the former goes the bulk of both image and commentary. To be a friend of Icarus, there is nothing anti-theos about this. Your pride, flying high above the water, too close to the son, melts your wax wings and sends you crashing down to death. Established there is a fear of success, metaphorical in "flying high," and captured with the image of a man huddled away from a ladder which he could climb if he so choosed. However, I would note that the Biblical passage you quoted was the Tower of Babel, which most scholars tend to agree is reference to ancient Sumer and not Chaldea (the original Babylonian Empire).
In the fear of flying, you make clear the second presentation of this image: the abandonment of education, knowledge, seeking wisdom. Prosaically in the commentary, you note the "weeping on the coffin of enlightenment," and with your own failures (created by hubris), you turn away, fearing the same result. Thus, you limit yourself to a small cage. It is in the act of not thinking that you become a child of Babylon--an ancient city used in the Bible to represent all that is wrong with the world: sin, ignorance, humanity. By abandoning knowledge and becoming a child of Babylon, one understands that they no longer seek the sum total of available wisdom, but rather the base instinct intriniscally linked to being human: preservation. No risk, no reward.
In blaming the gods, you remove personal responsibility, but in the image make it clear that it falls heavily upon you, who, despite being aware of this knowledge, continue to take no risks. Let us make it so that man understands each other. That is the goal of this art, as it is with all.
Technically, I like the darkness of the room. The light sheds (like grace) directly to Man, but touches not on the heights he seeks. The ladder stands, despite its close proximity to the man, unlit and almost lonely. Huddled, crouched away, the man's back is turned to light--enlightment, grace, all that might be considered good--and in fear, the ladder to reach new heights is unused. The composition brings all of this out, with or without the commentary. Further, the high contrast in black and white (what was the exposure length on this to achieve the detail?) is beautiful, because it separates what is and what could be, how things are and how they should be. The nakedness of the model strips civilization from his character, leaving him without God or knowledge to cover oneself. Shadowing against the studded wall (as it is not plastered/drywalled, so all we see is framework) lends nicely to the image of deconstruction and refusal to continue.
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Thanks for such an in-depth analysis. I think I enjoyed reading that more than I did working on the piece.
Regarding the Babel passage, it's a reference under the impression the tower of Babel was part of Babylon. I've seen suggestions that Sumerian ziggarauts may have been the inspiration for the Biblical Tower of Babel. But I've also seen discussions about that archeological remains of the tower have been found in the ruins of Babylon, and that it believe to be a tower which was rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II. In any case, the association between the Tower of Babel and Babylon is common enough I think to not really matter.
Regarding the technical part of the photo itself, it exposure was 1/10 of a second at f/4, with a single 400 watt flood lamp as a light source.
Thanks again, your commentary is exceptional and I really appreciate that.
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great shot... so much emotion. Although... the passage you chose (in italics) is actually the tower of Babel, i believe, although i may be wrong.
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Yes, it is a passage in reference to the Tower of Babel, which is associated with the city of Babylon. Thank you for the comment.
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wow...I think the excerpt from the Bible could be left out...esp with how twisted around it is. But I like your concept,a nd the photograph..It sure says a lot.
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very nice pict...i like the shadows whose are here congratulations
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This is an amazing photograph, I find myself drawn to it. Maybe because it can have so many different meanings depending on your own situation...
People remain afraid of success, or love, or hope...so they are reduced to living in fear.
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i'd perhaps prefer something more splendid, perhaps a bit more mystical and imposing to go with the words. Still, the concept itself in the way it's given has left me stunned.
The words themselves would deserve a thousand favs and a life of thought; impressive Arthur.
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If only humans weren't afraid of such heights, then your description would be as perfect as gods seem to be. Brilliant.
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very cool, the ladder really helps re-inforce the whole idea behind the photo Black and white suits it perfectly. I love the whole idea behind it! We are reduced to cowering in the dark, scared of the light of truth?... never realising our true potential.
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Oh.
That made some serious tougths for me.
Nice picture man! Love your expression
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this is a wonderful image and brilliant words. Very moving. I like it alot alot.
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