I began this website and blog last week, imperfectly. Starting is what is important. Just do it. Learn as you go. Keep practicing. Let the process of doing guide you.
I began with 2 things. Two ways of seeing the world
The first is photographs.
When I posted a collection of pictures I received warm appreciation and encouragement from friends near and far. But one friend in particular, in a quiet message off to the side, said:
“...your eye is such a loving one...don’t know if that makes any sense to you? The photographs are full of light and love”
While I am deeply grateful that my friend would share this, and it could be an ego builder, I don't believe that is why it was shared, nor was it how I received it. I have learned that the camera is a simply a way to look at the world and the people in it. It is not my eye. It is being present to that which wants to be seen. Time looking through the lens of a camera gives me the opportunity to be present when something shows up and wants, even needs, to be seen. The light and love is not mine. I just get to be present to it.
The second is writing. The two are connected.
Sometimes I am looking at people I know and love. Sometimes I am looking at people who are a window into a larger world experienced through them, and beyond them. Writing is a way to search for words to express what I come see and know through people I meet in the lens of camera.
The beauty of a photograph is the meditative, contemplative moment it creates when motion is stopped, and time stands still, and we can see a more expansive universe through one image.
In an increasingly fast paced world, having the world stand still for a moment matters.