Wednesday, February 2, 2011

 the pacific ocean this evening....

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Simply stunning. Douglas E, you rule.

- P.

douglas e. walker said...

thanks peter..

Anonymous said...

There are instances of majesty in every man's life (note that I specifically speak only of my gender, having no desire to be suspected of having appropriated for one milli-second the female voice in the 21st or any other century) when a conjunction of time and place and matter and energy beget an event whose singular magnificence flairs within our consciousness like a super-nova of complete awareness. Sadly, although with its own ineffable beauty, each super-nova begins to fade immediately and irrevocable until, like the last ember in the last log of a perfect campfire, it becomes charcoal within memory.

It occurs to me that when the practiced photographer captures the light reflected off the bottom of a wave board ridden on a curl of ocean by a child of the water in the throws of experiencing perfection in motion, or clicks the shutter just as the silhouetted body of a teenager walking the rails exhibits the fluidity and balance of a streak of liquid in vertical suspension ... it occurs to me that in that exceptional moment, even the most veteran photographer must experience a similar super-nova, must actually feel the light slap through the lens into his eye and from there into a part of his brain that instantly reports to him, clearly and with a total confidence that is none-the-less wrapped in wonder, "You don't need to scan a contact sheet, or spend an hour in Photoshop to know that shot has been hanging in infinity, waiting for you and only you to find it in this speck of unending time...and you've got it..."

And having come that far, I now realize that the real joy, the real wonder of the photograph is that it is an ember that does not fade. It reignites the imagination and tracks back to the explosive source of the super nova every time it is seen by a single soul or shared by countless numbers.

Thanks for sharing, Doug.

Bruce

douglas e. walker said...

bruce is a great writer, and he has a keen sense of humor..

Anonymous said...

You really caught the light on this one Doug--waited for the precise time--guess you know that. CW

Anonymous said...

When I think I have seen the best you shot another.....Your the greatest Douglas E Walker!!!!!special meaning & appreciation that we live in the area.JH