Journals from the Road – Utah 2016
As a novice to the art of photography, I feel like a child. In a state of growth, emulation, and excitement. We rush through the landscapes, our senses flooded by the beauty that unfolds before us (if we are conscious enough to pay attention). Seduced by the beauty and desperate to capture the moment in a clumsy way. Typical boy brain, most attempts are forcing the shot. As if I have the power to will it into being. It ceases to be about force and is accomplished only through surrender. I’m starting to sense that good photography (and life for that matter) is about patience and study. A patient lover to be more exact, but not in the physical sense of the term, but in the spiritual. In essence, it is patience and love that allows us to become silent enough to understand how to realign our perspective. Love is not about us but works through us, and we become a vessel filled and overflowing. It is the overflow that allows us to share for the benefit of others.
Obviously, a study in the art of composition and more importantly integration of the whole. The technical applications of the equipment are merely training to adapt to any given situation, but the art of photography is about the willingness to observe and become a witness. Our perspective is a limitation, and we must humbly accept this constraint for the moment to reveal itself to us. We can only do this effectively when achieving an inner silence to hear the whispers and murmurs of her beauty.
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi
It is in the art of observation and understanding how the light engages in a playful dance with the landscape around you. Photography just becomes the medium to document the moment. A snapshot of how the heavens kiss the seen.. and realize we are just witnesses to the beauty of this creative moment unfolding. This realization becomes an integral part of me and changes me. A subtle merger and an impression that I carry with my always. And perhaps this how is has always worked, which is why it is important to be conscious of the words we use, the images we view, our created interactions.. and the environment, in which we live. No now matter small or large, it all matters…
If our visual “reality” is just our perception of the reflection of the light in its many variations, our duty is to witness the play, the dance, and how it acts to serve as a teacher in the most subtle ways. It pours over the landscape and all of life for the purpose of celebration, discovery, and renewal.. consistent in the beauty, intensity, severity and yet always patient and highlighting the truth that is forever present.
We keep pushing and seeking.. and yet she always provides the same message to us. When will we listen? More importantly, when will I?
Perhaps this is the life-long practice and an opportunity to become the humble student and immerse myself… to experience how it unfolds and blossoms. In the end, it is the unfolding of senses that help us reclaim our sense of awe and wonder, as she seeks to teach us every day.
Wahe Guru – mas
