"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." ~Jim Rohn
“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”
— Ralph Hattersley
“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.” — Karl Lagerfeld
Photography is powerful, y'all. On Monday, April 11th, I decided to take a picture of my parents' hands as my Daddy lay in a hospital bed. Hands are important to our family. Knowing Daddy was very sick, but not sure what the future held, I assumed I'd have other opportunities for pictures, but early Tuesday morning (April 12th), my Daddy headed Home to His Heavenly Father. This picture of my parents is one I will treasure for the rest of my life. It is the last picture of them together. Earlier in 2016, I had given serious thought to just putting my camera away for a while...didn't see improvement in my images....frustration at trying to succeed in Manual mode among other things. However, THIS picture and many others I took over the next several weeks brought me tremendous peace (and even joy!) in the midst of a very dark time. It helped me understand the "why" behind my passion for my art. Frankly, regardless of image quality, preserving life moments is just too crucial.
....and so...I'm going to keep shooting. It's just a part of me, and it feeds my soul in ways nothing else can. I am grateful for it. In fact, I've already got, not one, but, two projects going that I'll be putting into books at the end of the year. If you're interested, you can follow my current journey here: Project 52 / 2017 and here: #POM / 2017
“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.” — Elliott Erwitt
Until next time,
~DTR