Vision

In our life journeys and adventures, the shoulders each of us stand on are countless.  From family, friends, teachers, teammates, girlfriends, mentors, peers, colleagues, spouses, our children, our faith, those we have been touched by but have never met, and those we have met through their life works and look forward to seeing one day, these qualify as life’s endless blessings.  Mine, too, have been many.  

My mom taught me how to tie my shoelaces, bake Snickerdoodle cookies, and drove me to every Little League baseball practice while never missing a single game.  My dad taught me how to ride a bike without training wheels, how to tie the trustworthy “clinch” knot for fishing, followed by the “Windsor” neck tie knot on Sunday mornings as our family scrambled to get to church on time (to this day, I still prefer the clinch knot over the Windsor).

Then at the age of 10, my dad handed me my first camera: a Kodak Instamatic!  Five years later I inherited his 35mm camera and he built a photography darkroom for me in our basement in Upstate New York.  Without realizing it, I was on my way on a magical journey through life behind the camera.

Out of the blocks, my love for photography equaled my love for fishing and the clinch knot.  When it came to visual influences, they were all around me; the shoulders of a few I had never met, who were sharing their own joyful life moments.  Almost every day, in our home or elsewhere, I would see works created by the American painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell.  Though his final works were by brush, they always originated from a vision he created through a staged photograph.  To this day, Rockwell’s illustrations inspire us to see the wonderful life we’re all traveling through.

Then Henri Cartier-Bresson entered as I began my ernest photography studies.  Cartier-Bresson taught “The Decisive Moment.”  Candid peak moments in time, recorded and preserved on film…..the fleeting, energetic, and captivating moments of true life; a blink of a moment saying it all.  Elusive and extraordinary when captured; equally memorable when they’re missed by just a whisker (like the fish that got away).

I consider it a privilege to be sharing my images here with you.  I hope they bring a hint of Norman and Henri into your day, as well as a bunch of me.  Cherished moments from my heart; these are the ones that didn’t get away.

All the best,

John