Hello and welcome to Mark Prigoff.com . . .

This website is the home of Digital Jazz Productions. Our services include computer consulting, web and multimedia development, and a variety of creative, promotional and educational services for the Long Island and Greater New York area. We have recently added some new content to the site which includes: Web Development Resources, Buying and Selling at Ebay Seminars and Guides, Digital Photography, MIDI Sequencing (Basic and Advanced Topics), DVD Movies, Film Reviews and music suggestions based on our extensive media library, sheet music inventory and many other cultural programs and events.

Please note: Our media (including music CDs, LPs, DVDs, VHS, sheet music, books and gear) is not listed for retail purposes, duplication or distribution of any kind with respect to any and all copyright laws, where applicable. These items are listed for reference, research and educational purposes, and are also listed as suggested good material to purchase, if still available at the authorized retail distributors in the appropriate consumer markets.

You are invited to explore the site and we welcome your feedback. We offer a wide range of creative services for individuals and corporations, and strongly encourage a safe, constructive and creative environment for all computer end users. Individual and group computer training is available to those who reside in the Long Island, NY area. Please contact us for specific programs, schedules and fees.

We hope you enjoy our informational and creative resources. We've come a long way since the time the fresco, shown above, was created in 1511. It is our ambition to continue to use our present-day technology and creativity with the same sense of splendor and accomplishment.

Please come back and visit us again, soon.

Click here to read "How To Play Popular Piano"

Click here for information about our Ebay Seminars.

Mark Prigoff
Digital Jazz Productions

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* Note: Sixth bay of the vault, The Creation of Adam, 1510-1511
Fresco, 280 x 570 cm by Michelangelo (1475 - 1564).
Certainly the most famous image in the Sistine Chapel
Source: Michelangelo, Gilles Néret, Paris, 2001, Barnes & Noble Books

* "The Agony and the Ecstasy"
An inspiration to many who have gazed upon it . . . it is certainly the most famous image (sixth bay of the vault) to adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. "The Creation of Adam," by Michelangelo, was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 in respect to the artist's earlier works as a sculptor. In fact, Michelangelo actually hated painting at that time and literally knew nothing of the fresco technique. However, since the Pope had abandoned an earlier work of sculpture by him, it was suggested that Michelangelo was to be commissioned for the job and had to accept this challenge to defend his superiority as an artist among his contemporaries (especially Raphael and Donato Bramante). And so, Michelangelo worked virtually alone with just a few workers to create some 300 frescoed figures, over 1000 square meters of the walls and ceilings of the Sistine Chapel from 1508 to 1512. The artist wrote about the work, "This is not my profession", he complained. "I am wasting my time, and all for nothing. May God help me!" It is astounding that an artist who disliked painting as much as Michelangelo should have achieved universal glory in that art, (Gilles Néret).

The story of this marvelous feat was portrayed in the movie, "The Agony and the Ecstasy" (1965), starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. I vividly recall the scenes where Pope Julius II would repeatedly look up from the base of the scaffolding and asked, "When will you make an end?", and Michelangelo replied, "When I can!" Michelangelo was ready to run from Rome after this constant harassment from the Pope, but was soon calmed-down with a quick payment of 500 ducats from his messenger and a formal apology. The work was completed in October 31, 1512 and four months later, Pope Julius II was dead. He was granted only a few months to contemplate the masterpiece he had commissioned. The man who punished Michelangelo by forcing him to paint rather than sculpt was thus punished in his turn.

When the work was finally completed, I remember the scene where the Pope was on top of the scaffolding staring at Michelangelo's conception of what God looked like by candlelight. It was a true inspiration to him to see how Michelangelo portrayed God's image. I, too, share that same feeling having personally visited the Sistine Chapel back in 1970. I somehow managed to photograph the entire ceiling within a single frame (33mm slide) with my Minolta SRT-101 camera and a STAR-D Pro tripod (which I had under my windbreaker and discreetly brought into the Vatican basilica as interior photos are generally not allowed by the public. I quickly setup my camera and tripod, quite low to the marbled floor and cleared away the people who were around me out of the way to take the photo while using the "auto-timer." I think the other visitors thought I was setting-up for some sort of techical magic trick or something. But, it was truly worth the risk and the results were entirely breath-taking. Both a photographic and visual experience that has lasted with me since that journey to Italy.

I also feel that I have been truly "touched by God," as depicted in this fresco, with the many talents and abilities which I possess and share with others as an artist, musician, photographer, writer and communicator. And, as with all works of creativity, be it a drawing, photo, music, or even a web site, it can truly be "agony" in the creative process, but oh! the "ecstasy" when it is finally completed! Imagine what the great masters of those days could have created with the computer and digital technology we now have today? It is this thought that inspires me to achieve my personal best, having all of these great "God-given gifts" to utilize at my command.

    Mark Prigoff, August, 2003

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© 2003-2008 Mark Prigoff, Digital Jazz Productions
Contact: Mark Prigoff