Let me clarify this photo of stonework. To the left, the channeled waters of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal flow into a lock while, on the right, the tow path becomes steps rising. Both go under the curved opening of a bridge. This industrial landscape, completed in 1811, predates the first photographs by 28 years. Horses […]

There is beauty that can only be found in the landscape of suffering, of storm and stress. Unlike other travel destinations, this landscape comes to us, often suddenly. Yes, we get out of there as quick as we can but, while we are there, between our complaints and silences, we can look and listen. Elegiac […]

I am in the donut shop. I stand by the window looking out. My coffee order is in. I can wait. I teach my photography students to wait. If you want to see something worth photographing I tell them, wait. Look around. Really look. The world is eager to show itself but is a bit […]

In our house, a clean kitchen is not a daily but an episodic phenomenon. As I write this, the sink and dish rack are empty and every dish is in its place but, days ago — look! I took a picture! — there were stacks in the sink and on the counter waiting to be […]

At our best, we know that community is not about taking sides. It is about loving one another and, when differences inevitably arise, to seek and find reconciliation. But what do we do? When slighted, we keep it inside. When offended, we complain to others. When angered, we cry out to whoever will listen or […]

We had a map that had not been updated in years and we had questions about how accurate it might be. The weeping cherry tree shown on the map had vanished. Gravestone No. 100 should be fifteen feet due south of the Hutchison marker No. 235 but that area was covered in azalea bushes, English […]

As different as vector graphics and bitmap images. As different as integral calculus and matrix algebra. As different as deductive reasoning and sudden inspiration. A philosopher might wonder if these differences are somehow similar but you, I expect, wonder what I am getting at. I wonder myself! A scene can be described in words or […]

She seems courageous to me, my nephew’s daughter, answering nearly every challenge her private instructor offers. Just months ago, she was afraid to get wet; now she is willing to jump in the deep end but only if her instructor holds her hand. Soon she will be jumping in all by herself. Isn’t that what […]

As a child he found, next to a sheltered stream, a fallen sycamore. Because some of its roots held fast, the tree continued to reach for light. Four of its branches became large trunks, four trees rising from the one horizontal trunk. New roots went down and its life continued fourfold. Later, as a lost […]

Look, listen, touch anything anywhere at any time — suddenly we are in contact with an extraordinary universe beyond our comprehension. That extravagant domain contains more than billions of galaxies. It also includes symbols, numbers, words, ideas, and dreams, all just as real as quantum particles and trips to the dentist. Our universe also includes […]