Bullet of Faith

Mid-morning sunlight pours through the stained glass window and settles in the room like water in crystal bowl as I make a photograph of its pooling reflection on the church floor.

Weeks later, I read sad news of a gunman who used an automatic weapon to kill worshipers in a church. I retrieved the image of the stained glass and looked at it again, and dreamed about the victims. 

Wounded, and grieving for those those who died, I made the image I call "Bullet of Faith." 

Making a photograph, we want to share our powerful experiences. The camera used, where the photo was taken, and whether or not it was manipulated do not matter. The emotional truth does. As a photographer, to make original work, I want to touch a small river of truth in ways not wholly grasped in the past.
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We hear debates about gear, sharpness and aesthetics. These fade. The photographs that last are the ones that hold true to our emotional truths, memories, associations and experiences. I want to improve my craft, yet if I insist upon owning new gear or on comparing my work to others, I become colorless. Seeking to be a more compelling and vibrant visual creator, I first must learn to pay close attention to experience.

Text and Photograph by Jim Austin Jimages