By Scott Shephard

On a recent visit to the Young Shephards in Falcon Heights, I looked out of the west window of their house and said, “Wow! You need to see the sky.” We stepped outside and as they were admiring the beautiful display, I turned and took this candid photo.

After we came in and I looked at the photos I took, I realized that I had borrowed from a work of art known as The Bayeaux Tapestry, a 123’ long by 10” high embroidered scroll created around 1066 to commemorate in cartoon form the Norman Invasion of England in the same year. I had accidentally captured a scene known in Latin as Isti Stella Mirant - They Admire the Star. The so-called star was actually Halley’s Comet, which happened to appear in the night sky in 1066.*

In the world of music, borrowing from other works to create something “new” is called sampling. These days it is done intentionally but sometimes it happens subliminally. Perhaps the most famous example of this is George Harrison’s hit “My Sweet Lord,” which turned out to have borrowed heavily from a 1963 hit named “He’s So Fine.”

To the 3 or 4 of you who are still with me, here’s my favorite example of artistic sampling. It involves one of the most famous sculptures in the world - the Pieta by Michelango - and one of the most famous paintings of the French Revolution - Jaques Louis David’s The Death of Marat.

David took the arm of perhaps the most famous martyr in the world - Jesus Christ - and put it on one of the many martyrs of the Revolution - Jean-Paul Marat, who was assassinated while sitting in his bathtub. This “sampling” was no accident. The artist was making a veiled statement about how he viewed Marat.

Am I inspired to “borrow” from other photographers? Of course. Sometimes I know I’m doing it and sometimes, as in the case of today’s photo, I only realize that I’ve done so later.

Sorry for the history/art lesson today but sometimes I can’t help myself. Oh, and here’s the sky they were admiring:

*Halley’s Comet shows up every 75-76 years. For those of you who don’t want to miss its next appearance, mark the year 2062 on your calendar.

iPhone 12Pro Max f/1.6 1/13 sec ISO 500