circles

It's been over a year and a half since my last post.  Time goes by so fast when there are lots going on in life, and documenting it became the last thing I remember to do.

Ever since I celebrated my anniversary of stepping into the world of DSLR (and blogged about it in my last post), I have bought a new camera, gone to more photography classes, done many different projects, and most importantly - given more thoughts about how to be better.

Becoming better is vague and there are so many dimensions to it, but defining my aesthetics or point of view is a big part of my struggle.  How do you refine both technical and artistic aspects of the craft, so it becomes uniquely your own?

Few days ago, I was fortunate enough to attend Michael Kenna's lecture at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  I've talked about him in my prior post and I've loved his work ever since I started learning photography.  So it was really an exciting opportunity to finally meet him in person.

Michael shared many stories along with his works, and let us know more intimately about who he is as a photographer and how his journey has been.  One and a half hour felt like thirty minutes - time went by so fast!  He engaged the audience as if he's just having a personal conversation with friends.  I felt his passion and wisdom in his speech.  It was an enlightening experience.

Michael's lecture reassured me that establishing your unique point of view is an evolving process.  Your past experience, whether conscious or subconscious, already defines part of your style.  With this basis, you take on a never-ending journey of self discovery.  You have multiple conversations with yourself and your subjects.  You start from the surface, like everyone else, and you go deeper.  Michael thinks that he's been going around in circles, except that his circles become bigger and bigger.  I think this analogy makes so much sense - you don't become someone else, you never depart from what's in your soul, but you use what you've got and try to expand the energy as much as you can.  You will come back to where you started, but every time you come back, you are a more mature and wise individual.

So with that, I put aside my self-doubts and carry on.  I hope this blog will continue to be the documentation of my self-exploration, my journey in circles.

goodbye summer glories (part 3)

Life by the Ohio River is a wonderful experience and this river has gone through a lot if you look up its history on wikipedia.  I was at an Ohio River photography exhibition last week.  All the works were taken by Cincinnati Enquirer's photojournalists.  They are all inspiring works and make me even more sure that photography is not an art of the moment but an art of the collective moments from the past.  Only when a photo tells a story of the past, it strikes a chord in people's heart.

These photos were taken in the summer when my parents visited.  We were at Mt. Adams looking out to Kentucky.  It was a hot but beautiful day.