Reposted from December 4, 2023
In college I studied photography and fell in love with Jerry Uelsmann. I took four semesters of film photography and studied a lot of Uelsmanns work. He was an outstanding photographer, but his skills shined in the darkroom where he created works of art by combining different shots, at different times, exposed at the most perfect spot in the enlarger and creating new worlds. His technique and works were a mystery and inspiration.
For my film project first year I explored the technique of creating collages in the darkroom, no digital aspect would touch my film work. My first tries were less than perfect… to say the least. His technique and talent were far beyond mine, I wanted to create collages just as mysterious and eye opening as him.
My final project for that semester went well, after that I decided to look at the world around me for the mysterious world that Uelsmann showed me. From the play of light and shadow, shapes and hidden worlds so small that people overlook them, I could show the mystery of life in my photography.
For ten years I looked through a lens of a camera at every minute detail shooting the earth, the people, the objects in different light, different angles, close up, far away, in color or black and white. I focused so much on the shot, the composition and showing the hidden worlds, I loved sharing the mystery of the world no one could see.
I have since put down the big camera because the mystery got lost to me, always being behind the camera, living in the lens, not the moment. But I still see the mystery of the world around me, the lighting, the composition, the colors of the world, but now I see them in the moment.
~Candice C Carver
Candace, what an inspiring Words of Wisdom to remind us to live “in the moment”. The photography you shared is amazingly beautiful and inspiring also!
Gorgeous Photos ! I know what you are talking about when you speak of the “other world”, the one that holds the mystery and the esoteric connection between the seen and the capture, the infinite substance in the microcosm of a moment….I don’t believe this quality of appreciation or your eye for art will ever be lost to you.. You have seen it, captured it and now, have written your philosophy of nature photography, for us. Like you say, now you live the moment in the moment, you catch and release, you have trained your eye to see the random gifts of beauty. It is not just your eye , it is you, the beholder.