Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Upside Down Sunset

In high school, 40 some years ago, I had a crucial experience. I was raised in the Seattle area and was by the beach, Salt Water State Park, it was sunset. I was resting on a piece of driftwood. For some random reason I looked at the sunset upside down. The scene came to life, it became three dimensional, I could see the depth, the color, and the pattern. It became real, the sunset was not being obscured by my expectations. The sunset was a completely different experience. Photographically, but also in my life, I have, because of this experience, tried to look at things upside down. I try to reverse an idea, I try to see a different angle, if an idea is worth thinking about it should also reveal when it is reversed. Photographically an image should come to life in an unexpected way. Beautiful pictures are especially difficult. The classic picture of Denali and Wonder Lake is truly beautiful, but it is also boring. The challenge is to somehow bring the image alive, to reveal it in a unexpected way, to maybe see it upside down.

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