The Three P's

I got to thinking - which my friends always warned me was dangerous because they didn't know if my thought or idea would fly around or fly off, the physics of the forces on the mental process to produce substance in space and time. About perspective writing the essay on Alexandra Boulat. The photo of her taken by an another photographer inspired me sitting in front of my computer watching a bright red to orange to yellow sunrise over Mt. Rainier and the whole southeastern sky.

Ms. Boulat was a super talented conflict photographer, and I hope everyone takes a moment to think about her, her images and what life means. I prefer the design and emptiness of our world, finding views that you see but don't pay attention to, and the camera is the ideal tool to sort it out and find the image that presents something different. Ok, it's an ordinary image, but I like it - hey, I took it. Anyway, back to the thought.

Three things a photographer needs, and I love them in bunches of three's of the same letter, something to catch the mind. It's about perspective, presence and peace of mind, all of which resolves into time and space and the one thing that makes it all work, light. As they say, it's all about light, all the rest is what is at that place at that time. And the photographer has to be there.

A photographer needs a perspective about their life and work, and about themselves. It's about how they see the world and their place in the world. It's the innate sense of being and expressed in the doing, the photography they do and how they go about it.

A photographer must have a presence. Sound obvious to be there and aware. But a photographer must have their mind fully engaged and present in to the whole, their work and themselves. It's the saying, "Stand in your own space and know you are there.", and don't forget the camera.

A photographer must have peace of mind. Ok, it's a Zen thing, but photography is a lot about the merging of Taoism and Zen Buddhism, to keep the mind focused on the world, the scene, the image, the light, and yourself. It's about, as they say, finding the zone and being in it to work and get the image(s) you want.

Ok, statements of the obvious. What photographer wouldn't subscribe to this view? Well, how many have come back from a shoot or photo op, or just out wandering with their camera, have other things on their mind or say, "I don't know, it didn't come together."?