“When everything from a cup of coffee to the Grand Canyon is awesome, what is there left to talk about?” – David Ward
As a photographer, how do you stand in front of such beauty as the Grand Canyon or Bryce and even contemplate taking a picture? You can’t possibly capture the experience. You probably aren’t even going to capture something that is ‘better’ than what you can quickly view on the Internet. And as a photographer how can you possibly come back from those experiences without any photographs? Such were the questions running through my mind as my wife and I took a short trip to the southwest.
Perhaps a more fundamental question is ‘why am I making these photographs?’. External validation? I’m sure there is some of that going on. As Joel Grimes said “Without exception every human being on this planet to some degree suffers from being weak, fragile and insecure”. But if that’s the only reason then I am chasing a very elusive goal. Preserve a memory? Definitely, but if that is the primary reason then why share the photograph? I can’t possibly communicate my memory with just a photograph.
I share my photographs to create an experience for others rooted in my experience. To communicate the beauty and wonder of the landscape that we call ‘home’. It can be based on something as iconic as the Grand Canyon, but it needn’t be. It can be as simple as cattails in a pond.
I don’t know about you, but I do a lot of thinking and reflecting when I simply pause in the morning and enjoy that first cup of coffee. There’s something about the simplicity of the act, the wonder of the taste and smell that tells me ‘all will be well’. How great to extend that feeling to other experiences as well. Something that allows us to simply pause and appreciate the beauty and wonder of creation.