Channeling Emotion Into Photography
These are some of my favorite photos, but I don't know understand the man who made them.
As we head into the late part of the year, I’m taking some time to reflect. I’ve never taken more photos in one year of my life, and I’d say many of them are some of my favorites.
As I look back through all my travels and the tens of thousands of photographs I made, there seem to be many times when I was “in the zone.”
Facing some difficult things, I channeled my emotion into photography, and the following set is a good example. I was dealing with some bad news about my mother’s health. I didn’t know how to breath. Speak. Listen. Smile.
Unable to articulate my emotions, I took the following photos over one night and the next morning. (These include notes from my photography journal. If you can’t tell, I was in a weird place - but the photos rock.)
I can still hear the shrill sounds of a wood saw echoing through the empty road, giving me chills:
Just one “4th and Main” among endless abandoned towns across America.
An oncoming storm - electricity crackling in the air - the wind whipping the car door shut.
The storm kept its distance, a desperate hand just out of reach.
The darkness a reflection. The light always fades.
Lost. The center disintegrates.
Endless roads, all leading to the same destination.
Every intersection a choice. A chance. A risk.
A passing relic. A memory? A house built on a hill, the American lie.
Chasing a storm. Always out of reach, but forever at the edge of my mind.
The next morning: light.
Revealing.
Do you use emotion in your photography?
I’d love to know more.
I think i'm yet get better use of emotions in photography myself. I really love the picture captioned "The darkness a reflection. The light always fades.". Were there grassland lit artificially? It just great! I also like the next picture where you show motion in the grasses.