Flowers on Cary Street | Olympus om-1, Kodak Portra 400
One Picture/One Paragraph
My friend, Cathy Sly, takes compelling landscape photographs. Like this one in her post, Blown Off Course. When we last talked on the phone, two friends who love photography, she lamented that she tried to take pictures like mine without success. What she really meant was that she looked for scenes and subjects similar to those found in my photographs. I told her that I get it. I keep looking for the crisp skies and clean seas in the photos of Maine I admire. I look for the sweeping vistas she regularly photographs in the pacific northwest. But these views simply do not exist where I live. At least not in the same way. My creative friend Odile, who lives in France, sent a letter recently full of kind encouragement. In the letter she wrote, “It’s so different from here and quite ‘exotic’ to me. It’s a blessing to live in such an inspiring environment.” I had a good laugh at the notion that Virginia might be considered exotic when compared to France. And though there may be a slight muddling of the French-to-English translation, her meaning is clear. It’s a challenge for each of us to appreciate the beauty in our own home places and surroundings. And maybe even harder to keep seeing with wonder the faces of those who love us and show up for us time and time again. A big part of why I love to visit and study the work of other artists is because it helps me to see the possibilities in my own. Sometimes I just need a gentle reminder. To behold. To see with reverence and awe.