Guilty

I suffer from a failure to be objective. This, no doubt, will be met with disbelief by those who know me. However, there is more than a grain of truth to the statement. Educated as a scientist, promotor of empiricism, experimenter and truth seeker ...all of this applies to me. Yet, my capacity to be objective falls to the wayside whenever I wear my photographer shoes. 


The struggle to assess my images, edit good from great, and leave the emotion of a moment in the past are among my greatest weaknesses. I am paralyzed by the thought of discriminating the winners from the losers, and often fear that I place my best images in the bin while sharing the refuse from a shoot. I live this paradox, a scientific mind that values objectivity above all, while I turn to mush whenever I critique my work.


Today's image should probably be trashed or relegated to the abyss of an aged hard-drive rather than placed on display. Nonetheless, I proudly offer it up, warts and all, for one simple reason ...it moves me. Maybe there is something visceral about the experience that I can't let go, be it a beautiful moment or opportunity that I wish to relive. Whatever it is I conjure in my own mind, some false memory or stretch beyond reality, this picture speaks to me. The warm glow of a sunrise on Yellowstone Lake is solitude lost. Sixty minutes from the moment of capture, cars and campers will usher the countless mass of humanity across this ancient landscape. When I look into this picture with all of its simplicity, I can imagine a time when humans have yet to evolve and giants roamed the volcanic landscape. Warm monochrome tones, deep lifeless shadows, and the glow of an emerging sun seem primordial to me. While I am not certain that the image really works or can stand on its own, it definitely feeds my imagination.

I am guilty of being a poser... an artist and dreamer in a scientist’s world.

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