Visual Cognition

I have to admit that where humor is concerned, I set a low bar. I can see humor in a lot of things, and it doesn't take extraordinary measures to get me to laugh.

And surely, visual recognition is a part of photography. We see the shapes of things in clouds, are highly sensitive to faces, and recognize similarities and symbolism in forms and objects. It shouldn't take a genius to know that when shown a Rorschach blot, it's not the smartest thing in the world to say anything about your mother, dead bodies, or the government. Witness this recent blog post about influence, and one photographer's subliminal connection of a picture he saw to a famous photographer's picture he'd recently seen.

Still, some things are just too much. Here's something that made me laugh so hard my son came in from the other room and said, "Daddy, are you all right?" (Warning: it's somewhat crude, so if that sort of thing offends you, stay clear. If you have an extraordinary love for either dogs or Jesus you might want to stay away, too.)

Form reconition taken to an extreme!

I'm still laughing....

Posted by: MIKE JOHNSTON, thanks to stanco

P.S. To the commenter who wrote, "You won't be laughing so hard when one day you bow before Jesus and acknowledge His Lordship," I should point out that I didn't mean to offend anyone and apologize if I have. I am not even the slightest bit religious and perhaps therefore lack the required...sensitivity. But it brings up a point I'm sorry I have to bring up: if you look at the picture at the link, be clear about what you're looking at. It's not Jesus.

I'm not a theologian, but I'm pretty sure about the following: even if you love Jesus, you still don't have to bow down before a little brown dog's ass. And if, like Charlie Brown, you see a horsie in the clouds, you're still looking at a cloud, not a horse.

By October 2007: Hoya Pentax HD Corporation

Word out of Japan today is that Pentax will be purchased by Hoya in 2007. (It's being pitched as a "merger," although Hoya is called in the press release the "merging company" and Pentax the "company to be merged," which I thought was a nice way of putting it.) Although photographers probably know Hoya only from its self-branded lens filters, it's one of the largest optical glass manufacturers in the world, supplying the glass blanks that many optical companies make into lenses. It also makes glass substrates for computer hard drives and has significant business in eyeglasses, intraoculars (replacement lenses surgically implanted in the eye), and other related medical technologies. Besides cameras, Pentax has ventured into medical equipment as well, making endoscopes and bionics among other things. Hoya's assets are roughly twice those of Pentax and it has about two and a half times as many employees. Recently, its profits have been significantly more robust.

The integration will be completed by October of 2007 if all goes well. The current CEO of Pentax, Mr. Fumio Urano (right), will become Chairman of the Board, and the current President and CEO of Hoya, Mr. Hiroshi Suzuki, will be President and CEO of the new company, which will be called Hoya Pentax HD Corp. The new company will be organized around "a small headquarters with empowered business divisions."

And the upshot for us: Pentax Imaging will continue to make Pentax-branded cameras, with "...cost-competitiveness...strengthened by lowering production costs and focusing on unique, high-end products." (We especially like that last part.)

On paper this looks like a great merger, with both savings and synergies waiting to be realized. The Online Photographer congratulates Pentax and Hoya and wishes the new company strength, good fortune, and long life.

Posted by: MIKE JOHNSTON