“Stop & smell the roses” – a common phrase coined in the 60’s - echoes an ancient wisdom; beckoning us to slow down & savor the present. Should we refuse to slow our pace, we casually pass many wonders in our hurry to “do” rather than “be”. To be is the gift of presence. Presence affords us intimate acquaintance with the glory of Beauty; embodied in the mundane. Beauty transforms our limited vision & ushers us into the ethereal, eternal, & immortal realms of wonder & splendor.

Beauty never demands; her gentle insistence compels us to look beyond ourselves; to pause & behold something far greater. Something more delicate than we are. This delicacy confronts us with a juxtaposing strength; an intangible force tantalizing us with secrets of how to move mountains through whispers of soft invitation. Beauty is central to my philosophy of photography; she is the core pursuit of my craft. When people ask me what I take pictures of, I simply reply, “Beauty”. She alone moves me, drives me, inspires me to transform the common into the exquisite. I have learned to savor her presence by practicing stillness, silence, & solitude.

By slowing down the pace of my life, Beauty's vast horizons broadened my world. I noticed things I never thought twice about before; I was humbled by a force I had never allowed to impact me. Beauty asks no permission; she simply is. She is an undeniable force, beckoning the viewer to pause & worship, to savor & ponder, to be filled with awe & ecstasy. She demands our fealty, strengthening our desire for the good, pure, true & lovely. She stands boldly before evil, demanding it bow its knee in submission to her quiet authority. Beauty invites us to learn from her wisdom. She is not forceful; she simply exists.

She is not loud, yet she demands our attention. She is not an idea to be argued over, but a virtue to be practiced. We are often cruelest to Beauty because she is uncontrollable; confronting us with our own mediocrity. We attempt to possess her, to own her, to become her…  & so we destroy her. She cannot be tamed; we cannot own her nor conform her to our will. She can only be treasured & beheld. We cannot change beauty, but, if we let her, she can transform us into more grounded, creative, & kind creatures. More sensitive & attentive to the details of the world around us; to the cadence of nature & the gift of healthy relationships with our loved ones.

I am convinced that Beauty – both in creating her & beholding her – is the most effective way to change the world & transform hearts. She stands firmly, outlasting centuries of humanity’s striving. She speaks to each new generation afresh, welcoming every man & woman into her temple of wisdom. When I take pictures of anything – a person, a couple, a landscape, an object, a place, etc, I first allow Beauty to have her way with me. She guides my eyes & hands to behold her wonder & capture her essence on the fragile sheets of film in my camera. She shows up in many forms…perhaps a coy glance of affection between lovers, the soft texture of a flower, the color palette of a landscape, diamonds of light glistening on the surface of water, the demure softness of a woman’s face, the strength in a man’s jaw, a bird in flight over a sunset.

The longer you wait & the further off the beaten path you venture, the more marvelous the things that you’ll behold in Beauty’s presence. It's really quite simple... I allow Beauty to reveal herself to me. I simply stand by, eager to capture her in action through a million faces, places, & moments in time. Photography has taught me to treasure the wonders of life, capturing spectacular moments in images. Photography is my own act of remembering; so that I might be enriched by the wealth of goodness & bounty that Beauty offers me daily. So, do it. Stop & smell the roses. Immerse yourself in slowness; you might gain a depth & intimacy you could have never dreamed of before. You will never be the same after Beauty has had her way with you.

BEAUTY…the vice-full beast!

Stealer of breath,

sapper of strength,

stopper of hearts.

Boiler of blood,

master of time,

muse of humanity,

life of the soul.