When I moved to New Mexico, I spent a lot of time writing and walking in the mountains where I lived. I also took a lot of photos, but I used my phone to take them and the endeavor was not usually the center of what I was doing. More than anything, I was experiencing what was in front of me, then writing about it to share with others. I always felt that the photos were beautiful, because it is beautiful here and it’s quite difficult to take a bad photo, but they just did not effectively convey the power that is felt here. They could get sort of close, I suppose. This always made me a bit reluctant to photograph a lot. I would often think ‘I just can’t get that feeling across’, and why become bogged down with a heavy camera—it’s so hard to jump around and keep light feet along the dirt paths that way.
My eyes look at what is around me with a storyteller’s gaze. I want, so much, to share the feelings I get when I am moved by the world. I wish I could zap them into your being. I become very moved in turn by others who do this well, and I know that amazing things can grow from us by being inspired in such a way. It incites action.
Sometimes I see it as my duty, to those who will listen and to the earth itself, to work to instigate the deep inspiration, healing, freedom, and love it is possible to experience from the natural world. Other times I feel that is quite a lofty goal, but maybe it isn’t. I am starting to think more that I must share these things, for they are a sure antidote to everything that ails us!
Lately, my camera has been the way that feels really really good to do this. Compiling moments into film brings a level of reality that is increasingly needed as time goes by, in order to actually capture our fleeting attention and make the desired impact.
Sharing in someone’s experience of the world through the art they create is a way we can experience energy moving inside of us. We say, or think: I am moved. Then we act upon that. If the artist is making their point, they really strike up feelings in their audience. The feelings I want to touch are those that spark and strengthen a love for this beautiful, amazing, miraculous place we call home, our blue planet spinning through the stars. A love that makes us act, because there is a lot we need to do.
When I am out with my camera and forging small stories into movies, I am working to get to a place where what I make can be the means to inspire. This is what I am working on. This is my job.
