O.K. it seems that Ray would prefer to attack rather then share his thoughts and experiences and the Bill and several others prefer the same. Regardless I do think that this is a vitally important subject for those who aspire to create and it is a vitally important subject for those of us who desire to gain a better understanding of ourselves and our place in life. So let me begin, if I may...
I will begin at what was for me the beginning.
Like many photographers, I think, I was impressed with the photography of Ansel Adams, Howard Bond, and others. I sought to emulate them and so I attended workshops and I made photographs much the same as those they made.
If you look at my website at the Landscape and Nature images, you will observe that many of those images are indicative of that genre. Lincoln Falls, Crystal River Morning Rain were both made in the late 1980s. These are pretty images. What I would consider today to be "calender art".
At about that same time, I was involved in beginning stages of recovery from alcoholism and beginning to incorporate a relationship to a higher power, or God if you will, into my daily life and my life considerations. That process had began in 1984 and continues today.
Also in the late 1980's because of that process, I began to make images that are to me, today, more meaningful because they were not seeking to emulate the pure landscape style of Adams, Burnbaum, or Bond. This is the time period that those images in my Transitions portfolio were made. I began to photograph totally different subject matter along with the landscape images. The Doorways and Doorway and Curtain image are both from that same period and of the different type. Doorways, Windows, Bridges, Paths, Light, are all things that can be defined as having dual meaning...They can be literal and they can be symbolic. They can be both or either depending on the individual.
The images in my Transition portfolio are photographs that speak to me symbollicaly and this is because of what was going on in my life at the time. This is the beginning of my belief that the camera does indeed point both ways, as Gordon described so very effectively in his response.
I believe that it is the nature of man to seek to define himself throughout his/her lifetime. It is in the act of photographing that we are afforded one means by which we accomplish this ongoing process. But how does this work?
Well returning to the "Granite Pool -Reflections" image in "Transitions" c.1989 What I saw much later is that the image conveyed a deeper understanding then what I recognized at the time of the exposure. The image today speaks to me symbolically in this way...The pool is symbolic of "mind". In examining the image, we can observe that there are stones below the surface of the water and a reflecton of a tree on the surface of the water. These two come very near but not completely touching each other. The reflection of the tree, being on the surface, represents conscious mind and the stones beneath the surface of the water represent the unconscious mind. The tension point created by there extreme proximity to each other is indicative of the tension within us at the juncture of conscious and unconscious mind. Examining the image still further, the lower right hand portion of the stone enclosure the shape is quite similar to a human leg and thigh. So the location of the pool could be observed and attributed as the place of birth because of the similarity of the female human form. Thus this image translates symbolically to "Mind is the place of birth"...which quite literally it is. Without human thought or creative motivation nothing of consequence occurs.
Other of my images carry symbolic meanins for me as well. They quite honestly may not carry the same meaning to someone else...but then again they may. Nor have all of my images been symbolic in meaning...or did I immediately cease making photographs of rocks, streams, or "known objects" because my understanding of how photographs reveal the photographer to himself/herself was incremental in development.
I think it is the nature of man to seek to make order from chaos. That is part of the creative process and it is the impetus behind some of our photographic efforts.
I have much more to discuss about this. I hope that others will now join this discussion without negativity, rancor, and personal attack. I think that we all have something to gain from exploring this. Thank you for allowing me to expound.