I’ve made a good amount of pictures and managed few keepers during Covid, but not nearly enough. Nevertheless the time I spent photographing during this difficult period was incredibly worthwhile. Even though the virus made it prohibitive to take many of the pictures I like to make, what mattered, and what I’ve always loved about photography is the journey. Everything about being out there is special to me, and if fortune is on my side, just maybe a meaningful picture will be captured during a memorable day.
Last week I wrote about Fred Picker’s Zone VI Newsletters and it seems they’re still fresh in my mind. Something he said so beautifully really struck a chord.
“Of the numerous aspects of the photographic experience there is only one that I find always wonderful, exciting, and capable of producing instant happiness. The best part of photography isn’t talking about it or writing about it or teaching it or developing film or hanging shows or publishing books or making prints. It isn’t selling prints or having your work admired. It’s the excitement of being out there: the anticipation of the unknowable wonder that may appear over the next hill. It is the knowledge that there is a chance of finding and recording a metaphor of your loves, your dreams, your past, and what you may feel about your future. It is the hope of searching out for yourself and your camera something incredible.” Zone VI Newsletter 47, p.10.
The rules that have governed our coming and going for almost a year and a half are now being changed as we move back to a more normal life. Today, still being a bit careful, I am going to photograph the Doylestown’s Memorial Day Parade and the very moving memorial service that always follows it at Doylestown Cemetery. It will be the 153rdanniversary of this wonderful tradition and I’m excited to be a part of it! Not because I know I will make some great photographs, but because I will be out there experiencing something that is truly wonderful. And during that experience there is a chance that I and my camera will find “something incredible”!
Happy Memorial Day, stay safe, and best wishes for a better time ahead,
Michael