Time..

I was listening to NPR this morning and they were discussing time travel. They talked about the movie, several physicists views, authors, etc. It got me thinking though that time has traveled for all of us...and all we can do to keep a perspective of where we've been, and who were with, are the images we have in photographs. I don't recall ever looking at my images at like this, with the exception of one.

Over the years I have had the occasion to photograph individuals that unexpectantly passed on shortly after the shoots. I was exceedingly glad that we had photographed them. Looking back I can think of all the places I've been that I have images of and wondering how those areas have changed. In a recent commercial job that I alluded to earlier today, the photographs of the graffiti that will hang in the Sigma  Nu frat house on the O.U campus may have already been painted over by either the railroad or other taggers. My assumption is that they will stay as works of art only because I photographed them.

In 1988 Al Goracke and I were on the coast of the Pacific Northwest of Washington State. I was shooting with my Linholf 4 x 5 view camera and I recorded what I think was the best explanation of time I've ever seen. The coast is peppered with all sorts of driftwood ranging in the size of twigs to very large fallen trees. Because of the season and location being so far North the light was exquisite.
I set the camera up and focused it up and placed in the 4 x 5 sheet film holder in the back of the camera, and waited.....

A wave broke and I tripped the shutter. A week later I processed the film and I was startled....I got an image of time frozen, with the exception of a slight stream of water dropping off the log. I'll get it scanned and show you the image within the next couple of weeks. I have two favorite images after 44 years of professionally photographing....this was one. The other is of the LI river in China which I have on an earlier post here on the blog.

The process of seeing has been a gift we all have, we just need to learn to use it.....I love my job...