Not an Escape from Reality

There are many aspects of photography, many different paths down which it might lead. My own path is a journey in pursuit of reality, or “true reality” as I like to call it (though I know how redundant that sounds), and with the potential of photography to freeze a moment in time, “reality” is indeed [...]

What Is Our Responsibility As Photographers?

I have been challenged by War Photographer, a documentary film about the “anti-war” photographer James Nachtwey. As it points out, though he may have started out with at least a partial desire for the travel and adventure, he has become something of an anomaly: he is a quiet and hopeful photographer, who believes his photography [...]

Ami Vitale, Objectivity, & Truth

I just read an excellent interview with Ami Vitale by The Adventure Life. The interview, thankfully, did not focus on gear or the technical side of photography, but instead gave us a good idea of who Ami Vitale is, how she works, how she survives, and a great feel for how she covers the stories.
Is [...]

Full Life Empty 己生丑牛

Serving to a Fault,
Defaulting to Service.
A life spent striving to be spent
Poured out as an offering.
A farm girl caught in a city life,
Primal simplicity wasted not
On the severed souls she helped.
O, that we too could find simpleness.
That we have,
In the picture of love among us,
Like the servant farmer before her,
The daughter’s incense rises above.

August 14, 2009 • Tags: , , , • Posted in: writings • 2 Comments

The Ethereal Layers of a Photograph

Minor White, neither some funky musical chord nor a new character for Clue, was indeed a very well known photographer…though I will not pretend I knew that even a few months ago. However, I was immediately caught by a quote of his: “I photograph things for what they are and for what else they are.”
So [...]

August 3, 2009 • Tags: , • Posted in: photosophy • No Comments

Why I Think We Like Sunrises and Sunsets

Travel Photographer Rick Sammon wrote why he thinks we are so drawn to sunsets and sunrises. His meaning is our draw as humans, but being a photographer, he especially means why we are drawn visually as photographers. He proposes, with affirmation from a RIT professor of fine art, we experience an exhilaration from millions of [...]

July 26, 2009 • Tags: , , • Posted in: photosophy • 2 Comments

Maker of Idols

Finally, the kind of photo I have been looking for. I have been trying to capture the spiritual side of things. I am not talking about some visually appealing monks-in-a-temple shot, but the spiritual reality behind what we see with our eyes, and I am especially focused on the spiritual realm right there on the [...]

March 26, 2009 • Tags: , , • Posted in: photographs, photosophy • 2 Comments