A True Photograph Need Not

To Photograph Truthfully And Effectively Is To See Beneath The Surfaces And Record The Qualities Of Nature And Humanity Which Live Or Are Latent In All Things.

Photography Is An Investigation Of Both The Outer And The Inner Worlds. The First Experiences With The Camera Involve Looking At The World Beyond The Lens, Trusting The Instrument Will 'capture' Something 'seen.' The Terms Shoot And Take Are Not Accidental; They Represent An Attitude Of Conquest And Appropriation. Only When The Photographer Grows Into Perception And Creative Impulse Does The Term Make Define A Condition Of Empathy Between The External And The Internal Events.

I Am Always Surprised When I See Several Cameras, A Gaggle On Lenses, Filters, Meters, Et Cetera, Rattling Around In A Soft Bag With A Complement Of Refuse And Dust. Sometimes The Professional Is The Worst Offender!

The Quality Of Place, The Reaction To Immediate Contact With Earth And Growing Things That Have A Fugal Relationship With Mountains And Sky, Is Essential To The Integrity Of Our Existence On This Planet.

The Whole World Is, To Me, Very Much "alive" - All The Little Growing Things, Even The Rocks. I Can't Look At A Swell Bit Of Grass And Earth, For Instance, Without Feeling The Essential Life - The Things Going On - Within Them. The Same Goes For A Mountain, Or A Bit Of The Ocean, Or A Magnificent Piece Of Old Wood.