On Photography.....

The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.

- Brooks Atkinson

And I keep looking.... it has become the quest of my life.

I cannot adequately express how wonderful it is to capture and re-interpret moments in time and between people. It is a thrilling enterprise that is soul satisfying.

On a certain level I find myself often in awe at what I see, and sometimes being able to re-create that in a picture. I maintain that anyone can take a picture, anyone can take happy snaps, but I want more than that....and sometimes when the universe blends harmoniously together I get it.

This endeavour I have become very comfortable in is perhaps one area of my life where I am focussed, most in-tune and most forgiving of. Photography provides a known base upon where the other elements in my life that are not as ordered and plainly evident gain perspective.

I love looking at other peoples work. I love looking at pictures and wondering "how" it was created, and sometimes "why!".

I visit other photo blogs, websites, forums, I look at billboards and in no way to compare or become subjective about the merit or validity of another's work, but because I am curious and have been for as long as I can recall.

I love looking and seeing the world through different eyes. I sometimes look at this blog with all of the pictures of me down the right hand side with various celebrities and think to myself, WOW! I really have met that person, not to mention the countless other wonderful people and opportunities that have opened up to me as a direct result of photography. It amazes even me, and sometimes I only really appreciate the moments or experiences long after they are gone.

Perhaps for me this photography thing is the way I see life, not just through a lens, but overall. Brooks Atkinson was right, it is an impulse that reaches from deep within and bids me to keep looking.

I have included here a couple of self portraits taken last night.