Does Your Photo Have a Name?

One of the best ways I have found to understand our travels is to try and name my photos.  Whether art, architecture, flora, fauna, insect, or arachnid, I try to find the proper name to label my photo.  Why?   Because it is never just a name.  It is a better understanding of the “place.”  It’s a story.  It’s not just a statue; it’s an artist’s impression, a history, a tactile material.  With each building comes a style, an architect, a reason for being.  Every plant has a genus and family, displaying seasonal variation, a flower and fruit; a connection to the forest or desert and natural community as a whole.   Animals can be local or migratory, engaging in all kinds of activity.  What activity did I witness?

It’s not a perfect system.  I have plenty of photos without a name but I have learned so much along the way.

Prison Ships Martyrs’ Monument (Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn, New York, USA) A memorial to the more than 11,500 American prisoners of war who died in captivity aboard sixteen British prison ships during the American Revolutionary War. Never heard of it until we visited Fort Greene Park.

On the second terrace are four statues of the Hindu god Indra riding on Erawan (Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand)  Made from the ballast of Chinese ships trading in Thailand.

The IAC Building by Frank Gehry (New York, New York, USA)

The Kelso Depot (Kelso, California) a rail station in the middle of the Mojave desert. An essential watering station when steam engines were used to climb a long steady slope of the Mojave Desert.

Mt. Watkins reflected in Mirror Lake (Yosemite National Park, California, USA)

Mt. Shasta and Black Butte at sunrise (Mt. Shasta, California, USA)

Notholithocarpus densiflorus (tanoak) (Yorktown, California)

Lobelia cardinalis (Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona)

Cyathea dealbata (silver fern) (Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand)

Ovis canadensis (Bighorn Sheep) (Zion National Park, Utah, USA)

Mirounga angustirostris (Northern Elephant Seal) (San Simeon, California, USA)

Ursus americanus (Black Bear) (Yosemite National Park, California, USA)

Pandion haliaetus (Osprey) (Florence Lake, California, USA)

Anthracoceros albirostris (Oriental Pied Hornbill) (Koh Yao Noi, Thailand)

Halcyon pileata (Black-capped Kingfisher) (Khlong Sok, Thailand)

Anolis extremus (Barbados anole) (Andromeda Botanical Garden, Barbados)

Ocypode quadrata (Atlantic Ghost Crab) (Barbados)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies) (Surat Thani, Thailand)

Papilio rutulus (Western Tiger Swallowtail) (Paso Robles, California, USA)

Eumorpha achemon (Achemon Sphinx Moth) (Paso Robles, California, USA)

Archaeoattacus malayanus (Surat Thani, Thailand)

Aphonopelma eutylenum (California Ebony Tarantula) (Los Padres National Forest, California, USA)

Argiope trifasciata (banded garden spider) (San Rafael, California, USA)