March 25, 2014

The raxeira complex

There are times when a photographer goes dark. He stops shooting. He loathes the camera and will shelf his lenses. Beauty is nothing. opportunity is pain. The proverbial kodak moment hangs in front of his eyes and he knows his duty but lets it come... and go.

Why? the artistic element of the photographer is not so easily explained. Perhaps he lost his girl. Or he is overworked. Maybe his mother-in-law has been requesting a million pictures of grandkids. Stress can indeed kill desire fast.

Invariably the light will glimmer through the trees in such away that it stirs his soul. He might not even take a picture but it will begin to revive his creative being. He might not take picture for weeks or months. but he will start to put his gear in order. Updating firmware. Cleaning sensors. checking out the latest Photoshop.

I've been through the ups and downs of these times. I've seen my dad reinvent his photography after years of being out of the game. The stimulus for his interest was the blessings of the digital age. I am completely aware of the process even when I am in the depths of photography despair. But I don't fight it. Trying to force it would just lengthen the process.

I actually am in the upswing of this cycle right now. I am seeing the world as if it was all new. The possibilities spring from everything. And I am loving it.

Phothog.