Shifting Light, Shifting Lives

My Photo scholarship 2011 entry

Worldwide | Thursday, October 27, 2011 | 5 photos

Navigating a self-imposed displacement, I have been living in the Southwestern United States for over a year. Exploring its vast earth and skies, while addressing the influence of space on myself and my work. The images included are from Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM. A place that shifts and changes lives. I know this firsthand, as mine is one, on a long list of many it has transformed.

I have an affinity towards extreme natural environments, the direct impacts they have on people who experience them, and their integral role in cultures that develop from them.

The power of photographs and words, encapsulating an experience in time, to then be shared with others and preserved for future reference is what astonishes and excites me about this invaluable art. I strive to capture not only what is seen by my eyes, but the essence of a moment. An intrinsic amazement of life, beauty, this physical world and the intangible, is what compels me to release the shutter. Using a camera to communicate the spirit or essence of a moment, a place, a people with grace and authenticity is what motivates me to be a better person, and a better photographer.

Photographs connect us. Connect us to our natural environment, with respect for its raw capacities of beauty and devastation. They can act as a bridge to places, cultures and experiences the viewer might never see themselves. They connect us to the past, and future generations to us, in a way that other mediums cannot. My hope is that my future as a photographer, and my images will create some of these connections, and evoke emotional responses that myself and others may feel something that connects us all.