La Macchina Fotografica

Photography has the ability to impart monumental importance upon the most mundane of objects. The tactile lusciousness of a deliberately crafted photo almost automatically makes anything with texture to be important. Texture, form, and singularity are the essence of monument and photography, as a visual medium, gives us the tools to achieve this effectively.

I almost missed many of the favorite photographs that I’ve ultimately made. It makes me wonder how many I’ve missed entirely. Lost in thought, I often walk along with my camera, muttering about this or that. I then stop and realize that I’d just missed the last ten minutes of my life. Just the other day I was atop a hill in the Marin Headlands overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It had to be one of the most breathtaking spots I’d ever witnessed. Then my monkey mind got hold of me. I started to think about bills and obligations and some stupid online transaction that I needed to perform before some arbitrary hour. The circular thoughts spiraled downward. The majesty of what was before me became invisible.

A camera has the ability to change all that—or actually make it worse. It can be a door to an expanded state of consciousness. Or, we can be so obsessed with our camera that the contraption merely becomes another attachment and obsession. I’ve often remarked to myself how many images I’ve made during a given session with my camera, as if I were collecting stamps or gold coins. And what if I lost all those images? Would that ruin an otherwise fine day? How important is a memory card full of images to my overall well-being?

In-and-out my mind went on above-described day. Along the path of obsessive thought were moments of sweet lucidity. One of them was when I found the post of today’s image. Its discovery caused me stop and become entirely present with it. For a blessed moment all that existed was the post and me. I felt alive and very thankful for photography. In that moment it allowed me to capture the monumental essence of something plain and forgotten along the path of life.

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