Reflective Essay: Foun Photography

I stand amongst the inky darkness, my breath catches as I await in anticipation. My gaze falls into the rippling water beneath me as a magical phenomenon occurs. Silver halides awaken, stirring from a deep slumber. Moving as one, each crystalline structured compound recreates a single moment in time that will never re-occur. This moment embodies captivating beauty for it is unique and raw, its existence birthed directly from light itself. Before me, a white void morphs into a breathtaking juncture of time, a young child hidden among flowers, delicate shadows highlight her innocence and captivating delight of the world around her. I exhale gratefully as my mind expunges any former anxiety I may have previously felt, for before me, under oscillating water, my print has come to life. As stated by the well-renowned art critic, John Berger, “Every image embodies a way of seeing.. Every time we look at a photograph, we are aware, however slightly, of the photographer selecting that sight from an infinity of other possible sights”. Just as Berger describes, when I release the shutter on my AE-1 Canon camera, I am perceiving a singular moment of time. This never fails to inspire a blissful sense of triumph for I have discovered a new moment that can only be
found through the lens of my own eyes, my camera the vessel through which I can share and communicate my perception of the world I am living amongst. I do not “capture” these moments, instead I unearth them and share them with the world just as an archeologist unearths previous moments and memories that will never occur again. I do not “take” a juncture of time, I explore this singularity just as our ancestors explored the Earth around us, marveling at each infinite nanosecond, microsecond, millisecond, for it will never come to be again. Photography is a part of my being.
Every photograph that I create conveys who I am, what I aspire to be, and how I belong in the world around me. I find myself drawn to different perspectives and ways of perceiving Earth and all of its inhabitants. When I walk along the woods, my eyes are instantly drawn to the illuminating glow of the leaves and the dancing shadows of the trees. My mind tends to reveal these instances of time on its own accord, surprising me throughout each passing moment as I think back and come across mental photographs my mind has conjured up. I will never cease to explore every passing moment for every moment expresses a new reality, a new dream, and a new hope of what is to come
after.