IT TAKES A WHILE TO FIGURE THINGS OUT

I've been thinking. Yes, I know that can be dangerous but sometimes it can also be enlightening. I've never been able to put into words what I do with a camera. Why do I take the kind of pictures that I take. What draws my attention toward a subject or scene? Why haven't I thought deeply about those questions? Maybe I lack the ability for introspection. Simply said, I have always done what I do, and I am either happy or sad with the result. I usually didn't give a lot of thought to why I was happy or unhappy with the results. I've not always given much thought about the way I approach photography. I do know that my feelings about the kinds of subjects I like to shoot and the way I approach those subjects have evolved and my photographs have taken on a different flavor over the last 20 years. The other day I was reading an article about photography, and it addressed some of these very same questions. One section of the article stood out. It said, "a photograph becomes a self-portrait, a reflection of our emotions, thoughts, interests, and moods at that particular moment". I guess what I had been missing was just that description of what and why I take the pictures that I take and What my photographs say about me. Of course, on one level I knew that, but my true understanding had been shallow. Maybe I hadn't really connected with that idea because I didn't think much about it. That may be the reason I had trouble describing my feelings about my relationship to my art. Had I simply looked I would have seen the connections. The article clearly described that relationship. Perhaps what I found most striking was the idea that each photo, regardless of the obvious subject is also a self-portrait, a reflection of my emotions, thoughts, interests, and moods. American photographer Richard Avedon said this about his relationship to his work. “I speak through my photographs more intricately, more deeply than with words.” Photography allows me to express myself, and to be myself. I love being able to look at something and then to create an image that looks nothing like what others saw, or sometimes don't see at all. It can have more focus or less focus, I can shoot it from different angles and in different light. I can create images with more color or less color or maybe no color which removes the distractions that color can cause. Black and white can make a scene more dramatic, more mysterious and it can also make an image less "in your face". All those options, and more allow me to alter the emotions that the image can create. I can better make the image a reflection of what I am feeling. If nothing else, photography satisfies my need to create. So, what are the things I like to photograph? Things that interest my eye and drawn to are things like the interplay between light and shadow, the texture and shape of an object or scene, and surprising or interesting elements on otherwise mundane surfaces or are parts of an ordinary scene. I often say that if I am walking down the street with a friend, he may be admiring a beautiful building but what I am seeing are the "parts" of that scene, the shadows, the color, texture, shapes, and details or maybe even the flaws. When I can capture those things, either individually or as part of the whole and present them in an interesting way then the viewer will begin to get a sense of what's going on in my head. I have heard it said that your style is your invisible signature. Done right and done with truth you give a viewer a peek inside your head and your heart. It’s a glimpse of the way we view the world through our eyes. How do you come to have "a style" of your own. Is it something you are born with or is it something you discover and if it is something you discover is that just accidental or did you work to discover it? While "style" has some elements that are innate I believe there is also an element of discovery but that takes work and time to see. So, what's involved in that discovery process. It is simple. You shoot, shoot and shoot some more. You take thousands of pictures over a period of time. Sometimes you figure out quickly what interests, inspires, or gives you joy to create, sometimes, like me, it takes longer. The more I shot the more often I shot the more I discovered the results I could feel in my heart. I've experimented a lot, I've looked at the things others have created and I’ve talked to other photographers. Those things made me feel comfortable with my results. When I have allowed myself to feel a scene, or an object rather than just seeing it I believe that is when I most often allow a peek of my thoughts, my emotions, and my heart. There was a time when I wasn't sure that such a connection existed between my mind and the lens. In some ways I was a little afraid that there is, knowing that such a connection would leave me emotionally exposed. I think that is probably true of most people. With art you can't fake that connection between the image and the mind that creates that image. Some emotional involvement is necessary to create an image that conveys enough emotion to be worth something. Emotion in, emotion out. That's how you connect with your viewers. You must allow yourself to fail.... failure is an important part of learning. You experiment and if it doesn't work you try something different but don't beat yourself up because it didn't work. Photographs not only hold information, but they hold memories, and they tell stories. I have built a huge library of memories and stories that I hold close to my heart. Photos are my way of telling my story. What has 25 years of photography taught me? It taught me to notice color, texture, shapes, and light in a way most people don't. It taught me that an ordinary object can become beautiful if photographed in a creative way. It taught me that it is ok to put a little of myself into each photo. An fun but unrelated bit of trivia The origin of the word photography: photo is related to light. graph is to draw Thus, to photograph means to draw with light.