Seeking Light, Looking at Shadows, 2007

The magical quality of air, light, and moisture to transform a scene from one moment to the next is the inspiration for these photographs. This phenomenon led me to consider how differently something can be perceived depending on where the eyes are at the moment and where they have been in the past. I am intrigued by the variety of ways people interpret what they see--each thinking their view is the truth of the moment.

Viewing a group of paper figures slipping through the afternoon shadows of my house, allowed me to interpret them as hovering, apparitional forms.

I spent several months photographing the brilliant, indirect light of the setting full moon, aware that the shadowy forms would quickly reveal themselves as I worked. Graphite highlights accentuate the spectral, silvery quality of this light.

A rapidly moving rainstorm over the ocean forced bright sun to become lost in heavy clouds and rain, then reappear and disappear into more rain, quieting into a gentle mist. Which view is the real view?

The resulting images moved me to thoughts of light and shadow manipulating convictions of real versus unreal, permanence and impermanence. The children’s story, The Velveteen Rabbit came to mind as well as Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Both present the possibility of more than one way to experience what is real and what is true. Living among the shadows of imagination might become real and true for some, while others seek light. Photography is an extraordinary language to examine such thoughts. How many times have I thought something appeared one way, only to discover that it was something else when seen through the eyes of another person, place, or time?