My Essay “Some Observations in the Galapagos: How Looking at Animals Can Help Us See,” appears in the Winter 2024 issue of Orion Magazine, just out. Excerpted from my new book The Picture Note Taken: On Life and Photography, the essay explores the visual and philosophical suggestions of Michel Negroponte’s 14-minute 2021 film A World Before God—a transportive romp with creatures under water and above who, unafraid of humans, seem to ask us who we really think we are. I hope you will read it and see the film! A reading of the essay and screening of the film will take place at 5 PM on Friday, December 27 at Catskill Art Space, 48 Main Street, Livingston Manor, NY 12768. Copies of my book will be available courtesy of The Hound Books of Roscoe NY. Please come if you can. Links to article and reading are in my profile. @orion_magazine @catskillartspace @nyrbooks @thehoundbooks @michelneg1