Photography and Imagination

An image captured while walking

The image above lacked planning — no anticipation of what I expected to see. It was an accident. It was a product of having a camera with me for a morning walk.

Now, I interpret a mature tree with its root system eroded by decades of water flowing beside it. Young plants in the foreground are vibrant with access to light. Sunlight finds a path still shaded by the tree and those around it.

Thinking of one word for the image, “hope”.

I attended a celebration of life several years ago. Images of the man and his young family cycled through projections onto a wall. I asked the friend who composed the series of snapshots, “why so few photos?”

“That’s all they had”, he said.