You must really want to know the juicy details!

As an introvert, connection is something far more important to me than I perhaps let on.  Being a musician, connection between the players within an ensemble has always been a priority, especially with jazz due to the improvisational aspect of it.  If you’re not tuned in to the other players, the chance of what you choose to play actually complimenting the other musicians grows slim.  The goal is freedom for all the members of the band, but not at the expense of the other members of the band.  Of course, there are aspects of connection in all styles of music, and that connection should most certainly be established between the musician and the listener, or ultimately between the artist, listener and our Creator.

While lending itself more to the contemplative introvert in me, photography has some of these same elements.  Yes, it's a solitary pursuit - not many people would have the patience to tag along while I watch how the sunlight hitting a certain tree changes over the course of a half-hour!  So where is the connection?   I find that looking for beauty in creation often results in an invitation to connect with the Creator.  For me, this is true in quiet places, and especially at sunrise.  I often question, “Did God create this beauty for our enjoyment?  Or did God just wire us in some way that causes us to attribute beauty to mundane things such as earth and water and sky?”  I don’t spend too much time trying to reach a conclusion because either way, I love being out there, finding this beauty and capturing it.   With the abstract, I deal less with the literal documentation of a place and more with the feeling invoked by the photo.   It might still be a landscape, but more as a point of departure, incorporating mystery that bypasses the rational urge to locate a place on a map.  I want my pictures to inspire something in the viewer - maybe uncovering something within the viewer that just needed to be awakened, inviting the viewer into something new and unexpected.   I think enjoyment of creation primes us to be able to enjoy the Creator.  To facilitate that progression and that connection is something very satisfying to me, whether through photographs or music.