Wonderland: Why I Take Photos

After waking on Saturday morning to world covered by a woolly blanket of newly fallen snow, Rob and I decided to go on a small photo safari for the first time in a long time. As we walked and snapped, I found myself pondering why these little photo safaris bring me joy.

Many of the photos I have taken over my lifetime represent my effort to capture a memory of a moment in time shared with family and friends or a milestone event… but I have come to realize that the act of photography is much more than that for me: it is a very intentional way of moving through my everyday world with eyes of wonder, seeing and experiencing details in a completely different way.

I realize now that the photo itself is not as important to me as honouring the act of looking—truly looking—at the message the world is offering me today, in the moment, in the place where I find myself. I struggle to frame the images that tell me some kind of story, and learn even more respect for the talented photographers who evoke the mysteries of the universe in their photographs, and allow us to see a new world through their eyes.

Snowed Under

This winter seems to be passing in slow motion.

This sense of extended time was amplified when I saw the Cloud Gate dance company perform The Wanderers as part of the Danse Danse program at Place des Arts last week. The continous showers of golden rice pouring down over a still figure—and the gracefully controlled performance of the dancers—created an atmosphere where time slowed down, but our sense of time also expanded... almost to a point of timelessness.

Unexpected, drifting, falling... we seem to have very little control over what drops into our lives from day to day.

Seasons shift and change their shape, becoming other than what we expect of them... showing up early or late, dressed in clothes we didn't expect and don't remember seeing before...