unendingly fascinating. customs and habits vary in the symphony of life, sometimes strident, sometimes melancholy but when a smile meets a smile, always harmonious.
not just that the landscape varies throughout the world, in each continent or even each country but each landscape varies in time with the sun or the clouds or the wind. so nothing is settled. each view is in constant flux. the photography records simply an instant in one place in one direction. but the freezing of a moment gives us time to reflect.
photographs can be obvious. a still moment of life plucked from the infinite stream of possibilities. some, though, leave more to the imagination. some evoke emotional responses that seem disproportionate to the visual image. these are the valuable ones. this is where insight awaits.
buildings. they provide shelter, warmth and employment. but much more, they define a part of our creative spirit that mould our environments with the power to inspire or demoralise. wherever they inspire, individually or as groups, we flock to visit them, use them, be uplifted by them. to be at peace.
perhaps the greatest challenge for the photographer. to somehow fold the multi-dimensions of love into the two dimensions of the photographic image. to be able to step unobtrusively into the current of high emotion to leave behind a visual story that remembers the passion for years ahead.
a simple thing, a portrait. proper equipment, used well will make a facsimile. a photocopy of a person. but beyond appearance lies a multi-facetted personality that reflects the soul. which a photograph can display for that moment of that time. it may be unexpected, it may be subtle but a fragment of us can come to the surface and be seen. to be seen is to be human.
