Searching After Wildness - journals of a photographic artist

We have had two snowfalls this winter. Both times a photographer friend had to practically drag me outside with my camera. I seem to make up all kinds of excuses to avoid doing what I love. A voice shouts in my mind: It’s cold outside! You need to be printing and framing images for the next show. What about all those emails you haven’t responded to? And, how can you be productive when the studio is such a mess?

And then I think, it may not snow again, maybe I should get my camera out of obligation. I grab my gear, get bundled up and jump into the car. We reach a local park and step into the woods.

There is something magical about stepping into the woods – perhaps it’s the symbolism of leaving a world occupied by todo lists and accomplishments and entering a more natural reality. At that moment, the world snaps into a different level of perception. Anxiety is replaced with a sense of wonder, joy and awe. The fretting fades away and I get a glimpse of seeing.