Faith In Photography

Religion.  Most of us are raised to believe in a higher being, be it God, Jesus Christ, The Buddha and so on… I was raised Jewish, went to Hebrew School and Temple and had a Bat Mitzvah.  However after (and maybe even before) my dad passed away I didn’t have much belief in God but I had faith.  I know how that sounds. At thirty-two I still celebrate holidays but more for the tradition of it, and just being around my family. 

What does all this have to do with photography? Patience, I am getting there. :)

When one of my best friends was married in 2008 she asked that I come to Church with her on Sunday as she was Catholic and wanted me to experience a Mass before the wedding so I would have an idea of what would happen.  So I went and I listened to the priest and I got all emotional.  What I realized (for me) is you don’t have to religion to believe in something.  You don’t have to have religion to have faith.  Whatever religion it is that you practice they are all the same at their core.  Be a good person, treat people with the respect as you yourself would want to be treated, love your family and friends. There are a lot of people who take comfort in believing in a higher being and I understand and respect that. But it isn’t for everyone.  It isn’t for me.

What I do love about religion are the Temples and Churches where people congregate.  These beautifully designed spaces filled with faith and traditions that are thousands of years old that will outlive us all.  At every angle there is something different to see and to appreciate.  We all see just a little differently.  There are columns and crosses, stained glass feeling that you are surrounded by something greater. As for capturing it all in a photo? There is something special in that.  

 

All you have to do is have a little faith.

What’s In A Name?

I know that a lot of people name their creative work such as photographs and paintings.  And if you ask them they may or may not have a reason behind why they decide to give every piece they create a title. 

To give you a little insight into why I name my photos I will tell share this little story:

Nine or ten years ago I was having lunch with a friend at a Chinese Restaurant located in a strip mall in a suburb outside Chicago.  After lunch while walking through the parking lot to her car I noticed a bunch of geese, all looking around as if confused, on an island of grass with a sign that said “No Outlet”.  I thought the whole scene was funny so I snapped a picture of it.  When I had the photos developed (yes this was pre digital) I showed them to my dad who asked me, “Do you know what you should call this?, Take a gander.” I liked it and the name stuck.  I blew up the photo and framed it for him and it was the last birthday gift I gave him before he passed away.  

So why do I name all my photos? I do it to honor my dad and to keep him with me.

Below is the photo that started it all.  The scan isn’t great but that doesn’t matter to me.  The thought behind it is what counts. 

 

Where do I come up with the names you ask? Well that depends on what I am feeling when I look at it.  Of course the titles don’t always make sense to other people.  However that isn’t the point.  Sometimes they are obvious but they always make you think. 

In The Beginning…

I am not, as some might say, professionally trained. Having spent more than half my life exploring the creative side of things I realized (decided to stop stalling) to share what I love and how I view the world with the public. Now, I have shared in limited fashion for a few years but dabbling and being serious are two completely different things. Time to be serious, or well, as serious as I can be. 

At 14 I started writing. Everything from poetry to short stories to almost completed novels and screenplays. With all the ideas floating around in my head I had to find a constructive way to get them out. Writing made me happy and I was good at it. Then I was published in a small local literary magazine. 

At the age of 24, just a couple months after my dad unexpectedly passed away I wrote one last piece that I submitted to a contest in Glamour Magazine about something that changed my life. I wrote about losing my dad. Then the words died.

The creativity however did not die. It still required an outlet. My dad like the few pictures I had taken.  And photography was a different kind of creativity. That summer, June of 2004 I bought my first digital camera.

The rest is history.