Echoes of Time in the Changing of the Seasons
Photographs of a world in change.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’
— B. Dylan
Ahh… the seasons are well into their transition. This week has seen the most dramatic expression of that change. Cooler (well, for Phoenix anyway) mornings, later sunrises, and a return to single-digit humidity. The bike seat isn’t a massive black bun-burner when parked in the lot.
This is my all-time favorite season. Always has been… something about the Autumn skies, the gradual cooling, the colors of change become noticeable. I’m kidding… we don’t get fall colors in Phoenix. Ever seen a fall Palm tree, or Autumn colors on a cactus?
But I can dream. And I can travel. And I can make photographs.
My decades as a predominantly studio photographer eventually gave way to breaking out and working in the real world. I preferred location work over studio work much more. The studio is best reserved for those times when I want little context — a black or white, or gray background. The subject reigns over the space in the image, and the background offers only a flat field — complicit in shaping the emotion, but not a substitute for the world.
I prefer the literal world… the challenges of the light that cannot be changed and how to use it or add my own light to it becomes an obsession. Do I simply use what is there, twisting and turning the subjects — or myself — to get the look I see in my mind? Or do I break out the lights and batteries and create my own world… complete with all the light and shadow I can create amongst the ambient of the natural world?
Yeah… those are the choices… and of course, there are myriad small choices along the progression. That is what makes it fun.
And for me it still is fun. It really is.
Doing something you love means you never work a day in your life.
Each morning I take a few minutes to check out photographers I am not familiar with. I want to see what others are doing… not to criticize, and not to copy or ‘steal’ — even like an artist — from them.
I just want to look. To see. To enjoy the still image and listen to all the great stories in my head as I view them. I usually find something I like with every photographer I view. And if the images are not to my liking, I may spend less time with them, but I look at as much of the work as I can.
My not liking the image has nothing to do with whether the work is good or not, and I can learn, be entertained by, and have my assumptions challenged by work that I don’t like as much as by work I love.
There are world-class photographers that I have great respect for but do not have much interest in seeing their work. And there are new or ‘emerging’ photographers’ that knock me out when I see what they are doing.
And of course, vice/versa.
Seeking out new and interesting photographers is a hobby of sorts. It helps build my internal visual literacy and gives me more touchstones and inspiration.
Even when the work is not something I would like to do… ever.
I just visited a sculptor’s studio and saw some amazing work she is doing with found metals. I love the work. I have no interest in learning to weld. (Ok, the torches and helmet thing are a bit intriguing…)
It is what I see when I view the work that helps me become more visually literate. And hopefully transfers into my work and my writings on photography… and life.
For me they are inseparable.
I AM a photographer. It is as much a part of me as being anything else that I am… dad, husband, teacher, doofus.
Photography has opened a lot of doors for me that may have otherwise been closed. It has allowed me to be mesmerized by the smallest of things, and never be bored. There is always the play of light… around me or in my mind. Planning photos, road trips for photos, and daily walks with a camera are what I do.
I see LIGHT.
Autumn brings light from new directions — again. No longer are the shadows short, and the sun so directly overhead. The shadows in mid-day are beginning to lengthen, to have a different direction. The sun is moving south again, and that brings light to places that have not seen it for many months.
And it brings shadows to places that have been awash with sunlight.
A visual play of light that unfolds slowly, but to a photographer, it unfolds with seeming magic. On my walk this morning, I was struck by images around me that have been hidden for the last few months. Once again they bring forth a chance for a capture.
The changing of the seasons gives us a chance to see light at work. To see how it sculpts and reveals and illuminates in ways we may have missed last Autumn.
Autumn can become the context.
It can become a metaphor.
It can become an analogy… and a story.
It can be a reason.
The changing seasons show us time, that invisible nemesis, as it ebbs through our world. Slower than a blue-haired retiree from Duluth trying to change lanes in Mesa, it is oblivious to all around and gives no quarter.
Just as I note new and interesting photographers every morning, I am making it a priority to note new and interesting parts of my world every day. I am lucky, as you are, that I carry a device to make a capture, a frame, a clip of video of the things that interest me.
Visual literacy comes in many forms.
And none of us ever master it, we can only learn more each day.
It is in constant exploring that the great joy of photography is found.
I am a photographer, designer, and photo editor. You can find me at my self-named website or at Project 52 Pro System where I teach commercial photography online. This is our tenth year of teaching, and it is the most unique online class you will find anywhere.
You can find my books on Amazon, and I have taught two classes at CREATIVELIVE.
