Bald is beautiful
In addition to their mutual professions as artists and photographers, Frank Siteman of Winchester and Charles Goss of Roslindale can relate to their shared experience of premature baldness. "It bothered me for a little while, but I had to get over it," said Goss, who began losing his hair at age 18. "I wasn't going to wear a toupee."
One day, early in their collaboration in the 1980s, Siteman jokingly photographed Goss's head. Feeling they were onto something, the two men made it their professional mission to portray the nature of male vanity.
One of their photos, "Hairscape #5," will be on display at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester as part of its 13th annual juried exhibition running from Thursday through Oct. 28. The photograph by Goss and Siteman, which received an honorable mention, is one of just nine photos to be recognized in the Arthur Griffin Legacy Award competition, which drew 2,000 images taken by approximately 400 photographers from across the country.
Paula Lerner of Belmont also received an honorable mention for her photograph, "Muddy Kabul Street, Afghanistan," which depicts a driver negotiating mud and potholes on a neglected road typical of the country's damaged infrastructure.
Conversely, the 24- by 30-inch, black-and-white photograph by Goss and Siteman, which depicts a small, plastic house from the game Monopoly set atop a balding dome with individual hairs swirling around it, is meant to serve as both a humorous and serious social comment on "the beauty and buffoonery" of baldness.
According to Goss, the photograph will be included in a book-in-progress of hairscapes and baldscapes that goes by the working title, "A Little Off the Sides."
"A lot of people suffer while trying to change their appearance. Instead, they should accept the reality of what is," said Goss, who teaches foundation art and sculpture courses at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The opening reception for the Griffin Museum Juried Exhibition will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the museum at 67 Shore Road in Winchester. For more information, call 781-729-1158 or visit GriffinMuseum.org.
SUMMER SCHOOL IN THE GALÁPAGOS: As a travel enthusiast as well as an adjunct professor in the biology department at Merrimack College in North Andover, Don Lyman of Wilmington was happy to assist his colleague in leading a group of 15 travelers affiliated with the college on a recent 10-day tour of the Galápagos Islands, which are off the northwest coast of South America.
When colleague Larry Kelts, a resident of Andover and a biology professor, was unable to travel because of illness, however, Lyman suddenly found himself in charge.
Though initially "in shock," Lyman said he simply relied on his experience traveling with Merrimack College groups to the Brazilian
The expedition was coordinated by the college biology department's Global Environmental Program. The cost of this year's trip was about $3,000 a person, he said. Lyman said the Galápagos was selected because of its unique species of plants and animals, such as the tree cactus; marine iguana; Galápagos giant tortoise, penguin, and land iguana; and flightless cormorant, a sea bird that has become adept at swimming underwater but lost its ability to fly through the evolution of smaller wings.
Lyman, whose personal highlight was spotting a whitetip reef shark while snorkeling, said he hopes his fellow travelers gained a greater appreciation of the Ecuadorean culture, the role the Galápagos Islands played in the formulation of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution in the 1800s, and the need to preserve it for future generations. "The Galápagos is the Holy Grail for evolutionary biologists," Lyman said, "but it's a beautiful destination for anyone."
REGIONAL VOICES: When people find out he's a writer, David Daniel of Westford said it's not uncommon for them to confide they have a great story to tell -- but they want him to tell it. "It's flattering, but I've got my own stories to tell," said Daniel, who has published more than 300 articles and reviews, 80 short stories, and 10 novels.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Daniel will read from his work and participate in a regional writers forum at the Pollard Memorial Library in Lowell with two new writers: Pepperell resident Morgan Hough, a poet who is president of the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and a reporter for the "Campus Buzz" news radio show; and Lowell resident Estrella Kuilan, a Lowell High School graduate who was a blog columnist for Salem State College's online magazine, Red Skies. The event will be moderated by Jay Atkinson of Methuen, who has written four books and teaches writing at Salem State College.
Daniel sees his own teaching roles at the Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School and UMass-Lowell's Continuing Studies and Corporate Education Department as a "cheerleader rather than heavy-handed critic."
"The [writing] flame flickers somewhat delicately, and if you come down too hard, you can snuff it out," he said.
"There's a definite learning curve, but there's no substitute for actually writing in order to get better and better. It'll be fun to hear how these young writers have been doing."
For more information about the "On the Road in Lowell: Regional Writers Event" at the Pollard Memorial Library, visit Pollardml.org.
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