1. Two Gods
2. Moon at the Window
3. Lucky Shot
4. Bonzai Tripod
TWO GODS
In an old Bahamas church, shadow and sunlight patterns dance on a wall. Clouds floats across the sun. Gazing for a long time at these rays of light and shadows move across the wall, the mind slows.
Greens and yellow hues dance out of the darkness. Detail; a broken wooden window shutter has vines growing around it as if they are emerging from an eye. Mother nature was coming in through these walls, one tendril at a time. The Goddess of Nature met the God of Faith.
In photography, there are many Gods. Consider these two. First, we worship our God of Speed. Fast autofocus, faster memory cards. Then, there is our Deity of Sharpness. These two Gods dominate photography at times. We have adopted them, and we worship them.
The writer Anais Nin correctly said: "When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow." Worshipping photographic Gods, without skepticism, is the death of creativity. Photography is about ideas, and making better pictures demands flexible thinking. It means loving the question instead of rushing toward answers.
Creative seeing begins with letting go. To make photographs of ideas means knowing that our thoughts, and our Gods, are not absolute truths. We smother our work when we carry their scripture to extremes; think of the “rule” of thirds and “never” center the subject.
We need not worship our thoughts. While they may feel real, they are clouds passing across the sun. Joyful, creative seeing begins with surrendering the idea that our thoughts are absolute truths.
“Joy appears now in the little things. The big themes remain tragic, but a leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun.” ~ Anias Nin
In an old Bahamas church, shadow and sunlight patterns dance on a wall. Clouds floats across the sun. Gazing for a long time at these rays of light and shadows move across the wall, the mind slows.
Greens and yellow hues dance out of the darkness. Detail; a broken wooden window shutter has vines growing around it as if they are emerging from an eye. Mother nature was coming in through these walls, one tendril at a time. The Goddess of Nature met the God of Faith.
In photography, there are many Gods. Consider these two. First, we worship our God of Speed. Fast autofocus, faster memory cards. Then, there is our Deity of Sharpness. These two Gods dominate photography at times. We have adopted them, and we worship them.
The writer Anais Nin correctly said: "When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow." Worshipping photographic Gods, without skepticism, is the death of creativity. Photography is about ideas, and making better pictures demands flexible thinking. It means loving the question instead of rushing toward answers.
Creative seeing begins with letting go. To make photographs of ideas means knowing that our thoughts, and our Gods, are not absolute truths. We smother our work when we carry their scripture to extremes; think of the “rule” of thirds and “never” center the subject.
We need not worship our thoughts. While they may feel real, they are clouds passing across the sun. Joyful, creative seeing begins with surrendering the idea that our thoughts are absolute truths.
“Joy appears now in the little things. The big themes remain tragic, but a leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun.” ~ Anias Nin
Moon at the Window
Sometimes the light
Can be so hard to find
At least the moon at the window
The thieves left that behind
(Joni MItchell)
Sometimes the light
Can be so hard to find
At least the moon at the window
The thieves left that behind
(Joni MItchell)