Aspens, Sun Valley, Idaho
Part of my job as a photographer is to simplify the chaotic world that we live in so that the images created in my camera are easy and interesting to look at. Most of the time, the scenes that present themselves to us are filled with so much “stuff” that it is hard to isolate individual elements. If we don’t train ourselves to look for simplicity, we will rarely find it. I often tell my students that I see the world better than they do because I see differently. I have looked so long for small elements that interest me that that is now what I see. My photographs are my vision. That is how I see the everyday world.
Composition is critical to creating interesting images. Painters, I think, have the advantage here because they start with a blank canvas and add only those elements that are needed for the image. Photographers, on the other hand, must find those compositions in nature, and then capture them in the camera. One afternoon as I was walking along the river in Sun Valley, I happened upon this aspen grove. When you look into the photograph, there is a lot going on, however as I looked and thought about what it was that made me stop, I realized that the repeated vertical lines of the tree trunks are what interested me. The muted color and tones created by a late afternoon overcast sky enhanced a feeling of peace and calm. Given the time, I could sit in the middle of this grove in meditation for hours and not feel bored. The strong vertical lines of the trees give my eyes a pattern to follow and places to rest after wandering throughout the other areas of the photograph.
I love finding images that seem to create order out of chaos. My vision is a very simple vision, and in the fast paced society in which we live, visualizing the simple things slow life down for me and helps me to live a more relaxed life.
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