Why We Photograph

Tom enjoying a laugh at the Nygren Wetlands

News of the death of a close friend came like a gut punch. It sucked the air out of my lungs causing me to simply pause and contemplate the gift of life as well as the gifts some people bring into our lives.  Tom and several other fellow photographers met every Friday morning for coffee and conversation.  We became known as the Grumpy Old Photographers simply because those three words described us.  The grumpy part described some members of the group more than others but we all carry a bit of grit.  Our love for photography initially drew us together but it was the bond of friendship and respect that kept us meeting together weekly over all these years. Through our photography we shared more than pictures; we shared pieces of ourselves that we would never think to publicly display.  We could be direct in our criticism of each others photography and that of others using unvarnished words. We could comfortably share polar opposite personal views on politics and social change. Because of this relationship, today, none of us are the same photographers or people who met all those years ago.

Most publications about photography focus on the places we photograph, what we photograph, what tools we use to photograph and why those tools are the best tools or not.  Much attention is also given to how we process our photos and how AI is revealing new pathways to create images that are akin to photography.  However, little attention is given to the obvious question that any curious four year old child would likely ask,  "Mister, Why are you doing that?"  

There are many reasons we make photographs.  We sometimes photograph to document.  Only one of our group comes from a photojournalist background but we all document our own special events, landmark family moments and quiet solitary moments we can savor later in our own minds.  We use photography to share ourselves with strangers in much the same manner as people in primative cultures wear uniquely crafted ceremonial masks while participating in common rituals.  Our "photography" masks help us blend in with others while still concealing parts of us.   For some people the process of making photographs together as within a group photo shoot helps us form bonds with others and learn from them while we practice and grow our craft.   My life has been enriched by many people met through photography, Tom being one of them. Finally, some of us photograph as a solitary, cathartic experience to center us during those times when our life gets chaotic or stressful.  In those instances,  photography filters out all life's distractions just as a good photographic composition will enhance what is truly important within the frame. Then other times, we simply like to hear the camera go click.

My phone always identified Tom's incoming calls by playing the opening lines from the Stills and Young hit, Long May You Run. 

We've been through some things together

With trunks of memories still to come

We found things to do in stormy weather

Long may you run

To me, it doesn't matter that this song was written about a young man's memory of his first car.   Like that first jalopy, Tom looked distinctively rugged and lived his life with a character as steadfast as a Buick. Tom proudly wore his laugh lines and often wore a cowboy hat because his head was in Montana with his grandson and those Yellowstone landscapes. Although I can no longer reach out to him, his name will remain yet another name within my cell phone as a memory I wish to hold a little longer.  Long may you run!

 

 Shades of Chagall

This week I participated in a short photo walk through the downtown business district in Rockford.  Ed, my friend and fellow photographer, had agreed to join me in exploring the many newly created murals painted on the sides of these ancient spaces.  

As in many communities, the downtown areas dried up with the invention of shopping malls in the late 60s and early 70s.  One effort to revitalize these old retail spaces has been to paint murals on their exteriors to give them a fresh and friendly look.  The plan succeeded in that regard but murals alone have not succeeded in resurrecting the retail sales this area once enjoyed.  The future will likely reveal a different purpose for these historic structures that were once a part of the city's mainstream retail life.

The photo I selected from that shoot was not a mural but reminded me of a Marc Chagall painting. While the murals are a permanent part of the landscape, this reflection in the window of a trendy haberdashery was a fleeting image within that afternoon's light. Chagall was a painter of murals and many other large works. His work reminds me of a series of compartmentalized scenes existing simultaneously while remaining free of time restrictions. Elements within the scene are identifiable but the connections between them are more opaque. I enjoyed the effect of this photograph blending the old with the new as do the painted murals displayed on the buildings.  I have posted below other photos that were taken that day.  We didn't begin to photograph all the murals but we discovered that there was more to be seen in that area which will require a second look.

Beneath the Bridge over the Rock River

Painted on the Wall of a Garage

 

Living "In Between Times"

This past week has been good for photography because we are in a meterological struggle between winter and spring.  While the calendar says that winter officially holds claim to the season, spring's coup is quietly pressing toward center stage.  The photo selected for this week is not about the seasons nor is it about the steadfast passing of the seasons or about the special times we all observe within each season.  The thoughts stirred by this week's photo rise from the transition itself i.e. those in between times. 

 

During biblical days, wise old King Solomon proclaimed, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every activity under the heavens", referring to a predetermined or natural progression of events within life.  In the musical, Fiddler on the Roof,  Tevye and Golde sing "Sunrise, Sunset" a song in which they reminisce about the swiftly passing of the years as one season following another.  The lyrics are similiar to that familar expression we all use when we exclaim with wonder, "Where have all the years gone?"  We mark events by the days and seasons as though they are mile posts guiding our journey through life, and in doing so, we assign them importance -- but what about all the in between times where most of our living takes place?  

For me, the above photo partially answers that question.  
 

I took this photo at Nygren Wetlands mid week while visiting hoping to find open water and new bird visitors.  Instead, I found ice and some open patches of water that reflected the sky and the surrounding treeline.  Opaque sheets of ice were still covering the greater portion of the water's surface concealing the beautiful water reflections and delaying the return of birds which I hoped to photograph. The sharper edged mid winter ice was transitioning into a smoother edged pearlized version blending in with the scattered open patches of water as if they came to an agreement that they are one in the same.  The open patches spoke to me of patience, and about finding beauty in the present while sustaining hope for things to come.  They encouraged me not to lose the capacity to see the beauty and appreciate the mystery that comes with living wthin the in between times.  

Coming here today wasn't the waste of time that others, like me, initially thought.  As always, the visit provided me with a time to slow down mentally, to listen, and to stand alone in the solitary presence of nature and feel humbled to be a part of its changing ways.  The truth in living may be that life isn't about the "special times" we have learned to anticipate, recall and mark yearly on our calendars.  In reality, the in between times may be the time where our real living takes place. The in between times could be the place that molds us by providing us the foundation to create, experience, and interpret life's special times and celebrations making them seem more joyful and fufilling whenever they come our way.