Japanese planes attack. This from a documentary on Pearl Harbor.  It happened on December 7, 1941 –in the bleak midwinter.   Paul Goldfinger still image. 11/22.  Click to enlarge

YO YO MA.  From the Ken Burns doc. The War.     “Blue as the Turquoise Night of Newyshabur.”

Paul Goldfinger. Great Auditorium. December 2014.

LUMIERE STRING QUARTET

Paul Goldfinger. Capturing the light.   Ocean  Grove.  12/5/22.

BETTY CARTER AND THE RAY BRYANT TRIO:

Paul Goldfinger photo.   Ocean Grove.  12/5/22.    5:25 pm.  Click to enlarge.

December 5, 2022:  I was on the OG side of the New Jersey Avenue bridge; test driving my camera in the dusky light with a full moon.

I saw her coming from A. Park.  She had been shopping and she was happy.  As she reached the OG side I snapped a photo.  I wanted her in my picture, but she thought she was ruining the photo, and she exclaimed:

She:   Oh, I’m so sorry.

Me:  Don’t be, I wanted you in my photo.

She:  No  pictures!

But she was still smiling as she rode by.  And she didn’t know that her image was in my camera.

I have her happy about Christmas to come.

People often don’t like to be photographed unless they can pose.  But that is just what I don’t want.   I want people to be revealed as their natural selves.

And the fact is that most of my subjects never know for sure  that their picture  was “taken.”   And that is OK.

In the 19th century the  photographer would stick his head under a black cloth, using a camera that weighed perhaps 50 pounds,  and with a shutter speed that could be several minutes or  much more.  Matthew Brady, the famed  Civil War photog could never get action shots so he mostly took pictures of dead soldiers.

Compare that war photographer with Robert Capa the Pulitzer winning photojournalist who went in on D Day with the first wave, splashing in the water, under fire,  as he took a couple of rolls using a small hand held Leica camera.

And now there are more photographs taken than ever before.

ETTA JONES: Jazz for a Christmas Present.

Firemen’s Park,  Ocean Grove. Paul Goldfinger photo. Dec. 2022.

By Paul Goldfinger,   Editor Blogfinger.net

For many, this creche simply means Christmas.  People tend to like it whether they are “religious” or not.

The creche tells  the central story of Christmas, so some will view it as holy.

Others will view it as religious art, as seen in paintings and sculptures, often  in museums and churches.

But should  it be displayed in Firemen’s Park?  They don’t even have one in Auditorium Square Park.

Anyone who wants a creche on their own property may have one on their own front yard, and I assume that is true in Ocean Grove where all front yards are owned by the CMA, and it is true on church properties.

Some complain that religious scenes like this or other religious displays such as menorahs do not belong in public spaces, ie separation of church and state. A creche would not be found in public schools, for example, although when I was in high school we had a live nativity on stage in the auditorium , nor would a creche be on that beautiful lawn in front of Asbury Park High School or in front of Neptune High School .

The separation of church and state would require that no religious displays be placed on public property, and Firemen’s Park, although owned by the CMA, functions as a public space where religious art should not be shown because it suggests a religious preference.  And the park is on the town’s ROSI list where those spaces that receive Green Acres tax advantages and Neptune tax relief must pay attention to such limitations.

But in Ocean Grove, to complicate the topic regarding avoiding religious preferences, only Christian themes are shown publicly.  Some will say that the nativity in the park is OK because this town was founded as a Christian community and is historically accurate.

This is not the first time I have heard that sentiment about Christian displays being historic in the Grove, but it is not exactly true. This park, for example, began its life honoring a person, and it had a fountain in the middle. We don’t know when the creche first appeared, but change is part of OG history and will be inevitable.

But in Ocean Township their Municipal Building ‘s front yard  on Monmouth Road has a creche and a menorah, the latter also having a religious basis representing a miracle.   Both would generally  be considered inappropriate, but individual towns could decide otherwise, however  they would have to allow other displays like the Hari Krishnas dancing on their lawn, or a group of shofar blowers playing a chorus of  religious blasts  together as occurred a number of years ago in front of the Youth Temple in OG, or letting 7th Day Adventists set up at the Mother Ship and hand out their literature.

I asked one resident who is not Christian how he felt about the creche.  He said that it didn’t bother him, but he would prefer it weren’t there.  Another said that religious symbols should not be present in public spaces because they might make visitors feel uncomfortable.  We live in a culture where no one should be uncomfortable, and any complaints must be corrected.

Another person said that this scene is less offensive because it remains  for only about two months, while the beach cross is present all year long and thus might be more objectionable..

We live across from the park, and many people do stop at the creche.  We don’t know what they are thinking.

We met a man tonight in the park who said that this scene is a part of Christmas in the Grove, and it didn’t disturb  him.  He is renting here now and has stayed in the Grove on many occasions in the past. He said that those who chose to live  here knew what to expect, so they should have no complaint.  Some say ‘”If you don’t like it, then leave!”     We heard that in the Blogfinger comments section a few times.

If something happens which would require the firemen to remove the creche, then while they are at it, they can remove the concentration camp spiked iron fence, sharp and dangerous needle brambles , and the chain- locked gate since such an image doesn’t fit with peace on earth symbols of Christmas.

Next month the OGHOA is planning a ” forum” to discuss the differences between the CMA and the  “non-religious  group”   in town.   But how will this “forum” begin and end?  The agenda, if they have one, will be troublesome to formulate. And the definition of “non-religious group” might be debated for an hour.

If the creche is any indication of the complexity of such controversies, then  it would be best if the Groaners abandon their troublesome and ill-conceived conference.   They will have no useful idea what to say, and why take a chance on an anti-religious backlash event in a town where religion is well tolerated and part of its history?

RENE´E  FLEMING AND RUFUS WAINWRIGHT.    “In the Bleak Midwinter”

“What can I give him?
Poor as I am
If I were a shepherd
I would give a lamb
If I were a wise man
I would do my part
But what I can I give him
Give him my heart
Give him my heart”