Quote of the day: “Let us be silent so that we can hear the whispers of the Gods.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the reasons I love making photographs is the still silent time I spend in nature. Even in the city I find moments when I feel as if I am listening to the whispers of God.
When I am in the flow of making photographs the rest of the world drops away and I exist in an envelope of stillness and silence, even in the midst of people and activity.
Recently I’ve become more and more interested in minimalist photographs of a lake near where I live. Yesterday as I took the long way home driving along Medicine Lake I noticed that the overcast light created an almost mystical feel to the reeds and grasses that grew in a shallow area near the shore.
I hastily returned home, grabbed my camera, and returned before the light changed.
Joggers and bikers passed me on the path beside the lake, looking towards where I was pointing the camera, wondering what I saw to photograph on that gray day. It didn’t matter to me. One woman even asked, “What are you photographing?”
How does one answer a question like that? Am I photographing a “thing” or a scene or is it more abstract, an idea, perhaps?
I like what photographer Chris Orwig says:
“a sacrament is an ‘outward expression of an inward reality.’ To this day, that’s become one of the most helpful way for me to understand what makes a good photograph—’an outward expression of an inward reality.’ “
The more photos I make the more I seek simplicity and open space. “How simple can I make this?” is one of the first questions I ask myself. And the more that I seek to express my inward reality.
As always, life imitates art and the questions I ask myself in photography become the questions I ask myself in my life—How simple can I make this?
Try asking yourself the same question next time you’re feeling overwhelmed.
How simple can I make this?
May you walk in beauty.
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