A Picture Tells a Thousand Tales...

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of joining the reception for the Photography Galore show in Battle Ground, Washington in which three of my digital photos were displayed. I felt honored to be in the company of many well know photographers in the area, as well as a feature showing of the photography of the Battle Ground High School photography students. I wish it did not violate copywrite to show you photos of their work. It was amazing!!

My first tentative step into the art world was through my photography, hastily entered into a high school art show, oh so many years ago now. I had taken a few photos with a Graphlex press camera and 120 film and, on a whim, decided to see how they held up in a juried show. To my surprise, I received a blue ribbon and an honorable mention. Who could not be hooked on photography after that!?!

I love photography most, though, for preserving life memories of the people who have lived in my heart and the places I have traveled throughout the years. Without photography, the emotions are preserved in the soul, but the images can frequently become time worn and faded. Just a few moments looking through my photos never fails to put me in a better mood with the many memories they bring back.

The top photograph above my head is of a pair of shoes in a long abandoned house we found in Tennessee on a trip with my sister and neice where we traced the places our ancestors lived during the civil war era. The shoes were brittle and curled with age, but had once been a cherished possesion of someone who lived there. It's almost if you could reach through the glass and touch history.

The photo below that was of a mountain creek I crossed on a plank during my solo hike of Mt. Whitney in California, something I had never tried before. I worried about being alone on a weeklong car trip spanning four different states, but I never ran out of people to talk to or have meals with and the photos keep the fond memories safe of those I met along the way.

The last photo was also taken in the old abandoned house, of a tattered lace curtain strung across a bedroom window. There were seven layers of wallpaper on the wooden slat walls and the remains of an old spring mattress on the floor. The front of the home had collapsed, leaving the interior open to the elements, but the curtain still remained...still elegant as it moved gracefully in a light breeze.

For me a photograph will always be an open doorway to time travel...and an opportunity to revisit those moments that will live in our hearts forever.