What Matters About Photography?
I'd never asked myself this question before. But the theme and the title of an upcoming photography show - What Matters About Photography? - at the Vermont Center for Photography made me ponder. Where do I even begin? There are innumerable ways in which photography matters - to me. This is what I wrote in a short essay that accompanied my submission for this annual juried exhibition, and that only begins the conversation for me:
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious, Albert Einstein once said.
Photography allows me to dwell on, to capture, and to share with others what I see as the immeasurable and the mysterious in our lives - be that a child’s face as she relishes the feel of her fingers sinking in the warm fur of the cat’s belly; or the stillness of time, void of space and sound, as I watch my husband quietly fight for his life; or the pattern of light, flowing outward through a tobacco barn’s open slats, like outstretched wings of a gigantic bird about to take off into the dark winter night; or the way the world suddenly arranges itself, just this one time, just right here, in front of me... I am reminded, time and again, in these plentiful moments of witnessing life’s mysteries, to remember life. Memento Vita - paraphrasing the ageless wisdom of the Ancient Romans.
I am very excited to announce that three of my photographs - Raiija and Runka, Accordionists, and an Untitled from 30 Days in Spring Series were accepted for the show. You may already be familiar with the faces of Railija and Runka, and of the Accordionists, both of which were on display in Amherst in Northampton this past winter. I haven't yet however shown any photographs from the 30 Days in Spring series. These document Agus's quiet and willful fight with cancer last April, 2010. I am both nervous and thrilled to have one of them on display in this upcoming show.
Please come to the opening reception this Friday, April 1 in Brattleboro, VT. See more information below. And no, it is not an April fool's joke! :-)
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