The world is full of people who call themselves authorities, who say it must be done this way or that. They will tell you specialize, to choose one kind of photography and stick with it, that you can’t be good at more than one thing, so for God’s sake don’t try to write, too. They’ll say it’s impossible to publish a photo book, that there’s no market for your work because everyone’s using stock photos, that you won’t be taken seriously if you don’t shoot this kind of film with that kind of camera. They’ll say photography has nothing to do with the spirit, that it’s a technical thing, more craft than art.

If you’re not careful, you’ll start to believe them. You’ll cave in and think it’s about money and being published and achieving notoriety, when the real thing behind your work has nothing to do with any of these, not at its core. The real thing is that sweet joy you feel when you’re in the midst of it. The real thing is how present you are to life when you’re working, as attuned to light as a lion is to scent; a hawk to a movement in the meadow below. The real thing about photography is that it brings you home to yourself, connects you to those things that fulfill your deepest longings.

The divine soul within us longs to be expressed. It is embodied in our physical beings in order to be made manifest in the world through us, through our creations. Just as we yearn to be drawn up into the heart of God, so God yearns to be drawn out into the heart of the world. It is life seeking Life; Life seeking life. The power of our art is ignited when these forces collide, flesh and spirit, human and Divine.