WOWZERS, IT HAS BEEN A MINUTE!!!
Transitions can bring a lot of change, but can leave one feeling stagnant at the same time. I recently moved back to my native region of South Florida, and throughout this process there has been A LOT of
w a i t i n g.
More waiting than I had anticipated (or even desired haha) and it truly feels like I’ve been stuck along an asymptote in many aspects of my life:
Career, photography, self, etc. YOU NAME IT!
And it’s that very feeling, the one that has you teetering before the threshold, reaching infinity with a sprinkle of mathematical improbability, and having it all graze the ridges of your fingertips-
that after a while, breaks me down a bit…
This post is a bit different from the ones prior, because I usually write about overall experiences with either a night of shooting at a show or results from an entire roll of film that I totally fucked up. But today, I’ll just be talking about a singular photo.
Yesterday,
I took a stroll around Palm Beach Island with the Fuji XT-3 looking for some interesting shadow/light play that I thought some of the architecture (in combination with the evening sun) around that area could provide.
I walked around for about an hour and a half only to realize that the sun was still a bit too harsh. Anything that included a bit of the sky was SUPER blown out, and the sun was creating this weird haze in the sky that wasn’t what I was looking for.
Anywho,
after taking only a handful of pictures that I wasn’t all too crazy about, I ended up in front one of South Florida’s most iconic safe havens:
Publix Supermarket.
Aside from the 60 degree A/C I was being blessed with every time a customer walked in and out the automated sliding doors, I also stumbled upon some beautiful golden light hailing from the West and casting upon several arches in front of the store.
I paced back and forth in that walkway for a good 20 minutes, trying to make justice of this small gift I was presented with, but I felt like someone who was tossing around in bed and could not find a comfortable spot, I was beginning to feel frustrated with not finding a semi-decent composition!
And, that’s when it hit me.
I thought to myself
“Chris, why don’t you just wait a bit. Stand still for a moment, and just wait”
At first, I was a little petty. For the past two months, ALL I’VE BEEN DOING IS WAITING! It’s beginning to feel like it’s all I know, which sucks, because it’s throughout periods like this that one forgets foundational things, like incorporating breath and intention into what one does.
So, I made it a moment for me to just breathe and watch. As each minute passed by, I was without my knowledge, approaching what many photographers call the “decisive moment” (which Alex Kilbee beautifully describes in his video for The Photographic Eye)
And it’s this decisive moment that allows for an image to transcend, to give it that spark, that It-Factor, or in other words, allow for breakage in this asymptotic behavior. A moment of rebellion and intent to cross into what isn’t known, what wasn’t reality up until that point.
It’s truly a conscious effort. One that takes
Time.
Patience.
Vision.
And maybe, standing in front of a grocery store only to cross paths with an old man who didn’t double knot his classic New Balance sneakers, causing him to have to tie his shoes on the very bench that my shadows and lights paved a path towards.
