Loving Through the Lens

Lately, my photography has been bringing me so much joy, and isn’t it important in this crazy life to have something you can always rely on to light your fire, something you can turn to for comfort, enjoyment, enrichment, connection? Creative pursuits have been an important passion for me for as long as I can remember. From playing with crayons (I used to melt them and mix the colors) as a child to dancing as a teen to sewing quilts as a young mother to writing stories and poetry throughout my life - having an outlet for my creativity has made for a richer, more grounded life.

When I look through the lens of my camera, I “see” differently. Maybe I’m focusing with my macro lens on something minute and obscure that I’d otherwise miss altogether....like the fuzz on a bumblebee...or the curious pattern of swirls and divots on the face of a full moon...or the intensity of the color fuschia when expressed by a purple coneflower. Again and again, I am humbled and stunned by the beauty all around me and I’ve grown attached to that feeling, craving it more and more. It’s not uncommon for my husband to lose track of me on a summer night and find me crouched behind the hydrangea or brown-eyed Susans, camera-to-face. He knows, in those moments, that I am completely happy and in my element. I can tell by the smile on his face as he quietly walks away and leaves me be.

Look through the lens of your camera enough and you may begin to see the world differently even when your camera is resting in its case. I become delighted with the chocolate skin and incredibly dark eyes of a sweet African-American child at the local House of Pizza....enchanted with the weathered, knot-knuckled, age-spotted hands of a farmer at the weekly farmer’s market....jazzed up by the play of colors and textures in bundles of yarn stuffed into cubbies at a yarn shop. “Oh,” I think, “if only I had my camera with me.”

I know that for many, snapping photos is an annoyance. I’ve heard friends remark that they want to experience the sunset or the flower for themselves and not have to share it with others.

For them, a camera ruins the experience. For me, the sharing is part of the excitement, as is the act of capturing what I see. Sometimes, I’m unable to translate my vision into a photograph. The light isn’t right, my skills aren’t quite good enough...and the moment passes quietly. But, oh...how I live for those moments when scanning through downloads of my work and I happen upon something truly perfect. I cannot wait to share the beauty I’ve recorded, to play it back for you.

There’s the opportunity, too, lately to find the beauty in a person and release it and then capture it with my camera. Being fully present...calm and relaxed...with a person I’m photographing often brings this magic to the surface. Being silly and whimsical also helps draw a person out. And when you succeed in translating what is most vulnerable, precious and lovely about a person into a photograph, well....the feeling is pretty amazing, I’ve found....for the photographer, the subject and the audience as well.

I suppose I like to connect with people through art and photography is my latest way of doing so in a deeply meaningful manner. A soulful photograph, perhaps something in black and white, speaks to you of relationship, of depth, of sorrow or joy. And we connect, you and I, through an image I’ve created or captured. You "see" it your own way, adding yet another dimension to the experience. It’s a beautiful thing and it never seems to get old for me.