Modern thought is characterized by a dichotomy of meaningful culture and unmeaning nature. Signs in the Dust uses medieval semiotics to develop a new theory of nature and culture that resists this familiar picture of things. Through readings of Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, and John Poinsot (John of St. Thomas), it offers a semiotic analysis of human culture in both its anthropological breadth as an enterprise of creaturely sign-making, and its theological height as a finite participation in the Trinity, which can be understood as an absolute 'cultural nature'. Signs in the Dust then extends this account of human culture backwards into the natural depth of biological and physical nature. It puts the biosemiotics of its medieval sources, along with Felix Ravaisson's philosophy of habit, into dialogue with the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis that is emerging in contemporary biology, to show how all living things participate in semiosis, so that that a cultural dimension is present through the whole order of nature and the whole of natural history. It also retrieves Aquinas' doctrine of intentions in the medium to show how signification can be attributed in a diminished way to even inanimate nature, with the ontological implication that being as such should be reconceived in semiotic terms. The phenomena of human culture are therefore to be understood not as breaks with a meaningless nature, but instead as heightenings and deepenings of natural movements of meaning that long precede and far exceed us. Against the modern divorce of nature and culture, Signs in the Dust argues that culture is natural and nature is cultural, through and through.

The art of photography can help us see ourselves just as much as it can help us see the world around us. But just how does photography become an act of self-discovery? How do we decode the meaning of images? This book addresses not only the acquisition of photographic skills and techniques, but also shows us how we can recognize the signs, and understand the meanings, contained within the images we make. The exercises in this book will enable both beginners and advanced students of photography, to sharpen their abilities and enhance their awareness, of themselves and the world. Teachers will find inside this volume a well-reasoned and coherent curriculum. It provides many valuable resources they can share with their class. Students will gain a greater understanding of the process of photographic education because each assignment is accompanied by a detailed rationale that explains not only what is being asked of them, but more importantly, why. Whether you intend it or not, after reading this book, your images will be more thoughtful, insightful, and indeed more beautiful, than ever before.