Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Les Joies de la Vie

In life we become so preoccupied, busy, and simply inattentive of the beautiful things that surround us. I know this all sounds a little corny, but think about it. When was the last time you stopped right before munching into an apple and smelled its sweet or sour aromas, or gazed at its bright green, yellow, or red colors? Or when was the last time you stopped for just a minute to appreciate the air we breathe and the sound and feeling of the breeze while it touches our face in such a mysterious way.

Look at the sun during an entire day and see where it moves, how the light changes, and how the things around you also change. The power of the light that the sun provides is greater than we can imagine…the way it illuminates things to make them visible to us. The camera wouldn’t be such a magical tool without the light of the sun. By definition photography is the art of light.

When taking a picture, my goal is to highlight these things we take for granted. The world has millions of stories to tell us, in thousands of languages, and my hope is to capture those stories in a picture and regardless of what language you speak, have you understand every part of it. Like the smile of an Iranian merchant I met at the medina in Dubai, or like the ridges on the desert sand showing us the footsteps the wind left behind.

I don’t like to call myself a photographer because I really don’t have a strong background in photography or much training for that matter. I do call myself a storyteller and my camera facilitates that. I would call myself a lover of life and of people and a curious soul trying to figure things out. I am thankful that my camera is there with me each step of the way.

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