John Steinbeck on Why Barry Loves Photography

Miraculously, although he died around the year I started to take my first photographs (1968), in the first half of last century John Steinbeck knew EXACTLY why I love photography so much in 2011.

So I exaggerate. But I was so pleased to recently discover these beautiful words:

"As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment." - John Steinbeck

I think Mr. Steinbeck was probably describing something we've all experienced countless times, and perhaps this is his description of what he aspired to capture in his writing - the slowing down of time, such that minute details in his words might weave the essence of a scene, a place, a face, a gesture, and the timeless undercurrent of meaning and significance represented by that moment.

Those moments which come to symbolize our human experience have a universal quality to them, because they encapsulate our dreams, fears, memories, and aspirations.

Writers aspire, and so do photographers, to portray these slowed-down and stopped moments with their words and their images.

It's been 3 decades since I read John Steinbeck, and I need to change that.

Catch Anything?

I'm working on a series. The only problem is, it's cold enough to freeze the Madison lakes enough to walk around on the ice. :-/

The few folks I've interacted with so far are fascinating people. Some are talkative, others seem to be out there on the ice because they like or need a certain solitude. They have interesting lives. They don't catch much, but they like to ice fish. Nobody ice fishes if they don't like to ice fish.

I have rigged a "click on a stick" setup that lets me position a camera boom several feet up in the air. I use a D700 and fast lens so it's heavy, especially if you include the pole extension and the remote trigger. I'll be trying some things to perfect this. I might also try a smaller/lighter camera.

If I don't fall through the ice, more images coming soon.