I
would once float through my environment each day, in a cloud,
looking at but not truly seeing objects and beings as they occupied
their respective places in space-time. As the world spun by,
its details would become lost in a washed-out blur and I would
sometimes whirl into it without actually becoming one with it.
Blinded by and vanishing in the mist, how quickly the world would
pass, how mundane it all seemed.
However, with a camera around my neck, in my hands and aligned with
my eye, it becomes easy to break through the dark veil obscuring the
aesthetics inherent in life. The viewfinder and lens, just by
proximity, put me in a state of mind that allows me to filter out
the clutter that gets in the way of the worlds beauty.
With a pictorial outlook, dull colors appear effervescent, minute
details become complex and striking, plain scenery is at once filled
with elaborate geometry and patterns, and the uninspiring everyday
things in life suddenly become intriguing. This is the driving
force behind my cameras and lenses acting as an extra set of optical
organs, attached to me now almost as often as my eyes. If there is
potential for photography I become far more attuned to the splendor
hiding right in front of me, using our surroundings as its shroud.
When locked in the photographic zone the world seems to slow down
and speed up all at the same time. Unhurried because of an
increased awareness of everything and a need to halt time and take
it all in. This awareness is not simply limited to vision, but
all senses are activated. The smell of flowers are more
pervasive in spring, the taste of the first snowflake in winter is
that much more satisfying, the feeling of a cool breeze in summer is
more soothing and the sounds of a crackling autumn camp fire evokes
even sweeter dreams.
At times universe seems more transient because of the many fleeting
moments that seem to appear and vanish like so much dust in the
wind. A higher level of awareness and speed is necessary to
keep these moments from slipping away forever. When taking up
the business of rescuing passing moments from oblivion one cannot
help but develop "spidey senses."
In a way photography is the most demanding of all the art forms
because to a photographer everything in our surroundings is part of
a grand work art. It can be extremely frustrating because a
missed millisecond instant could have been a masterpiece lost
forever in time. It can be daunting because that longed for moment
may never come. It is often dangerous because of the hazardous
locations, precarious ledges, and lofty branches the more
adventurous often find themselves. Needless to say I have had lots
of close calls in such situations but it has always been worth the
shot.