BLURRED TIME: SACRED PLACES IN KYOTO
FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS, KYOTO HAS BEEN THE CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL CENTER OF JAPAN AND IS STILL HOME TO OVER 1500 TEMPLES AND SHRINES MADE OF WOOD. AFTER A LIFETIME OF INTEREST IN OLD JAPAN'S REVERENCE FOR NATURE, I MADE THE FIRST OF SEVERAL TRIPS TO KYOTO LITTLE REALIZING THAT I WAS ABOUT TO UNDERGO AN AESTHETIC TRANSFORMATION. I HAD EXPECTED TO MAKE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS RELATED TO MY PREVIOUS LANDSCAPE WORK, BUT THE NEW IMAGES WERE FAILING TO CAPTURE THE DEEPER TRUTH THAT I WAS AFTER.
ASKING MYSELF HOW I COULD GO BEYOND MERELY THAT WHICH I COULD SEE, I RETURNED TO THE SAME TEMPLES NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AND BEGAN TO CHALLENGE PRECONCEPTIONS OF WHAT I THOUGHT A PHOTOGRAPH SHOULD BE. I EXPERIMENTED BY MOVING THE CAMERA DURING LONG EXPOSURES. THE MOVEMENT SEEMED TO ACCENTUATE THE STILLNESS I WAS FEELING AND ALLOWED SOMETHING MAGICAL, SOMETHING UNEXPECTED, TO HAPPEN. WAS THIS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR?
I CONTINUED ALONG 800-YEAR-OLD STONE WALKWAYS BATHED IN THE UNIQUELY AMBER, ETHEREAL LIGHT FROM LAMPPOSTS. AN UNSEEN ENERGY APPEARED TO EMANATE FROM THE TREES AND MADE THE SILENCE PALPABLE. SOMETHING WITHIN ME SHIFTED. TRUSTING MY INSTINCTS, I BEGAN TO PHOTOGRAPH ANEW, WITHOUT THE NEED FOR EXPLANATION.
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THE WORK THAT INTERESTS ME MOST COMES FROM A PLACE THAT CANNOT BE REACHED BY WORDS. WHAT I WOULD ASK IS FOR YOU THE VIEWER TO JUST STARE AT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS, ONE BY ONE, AS YOUR EYES ADJUST TO ANOTHER WAY OF SEEING.
LET THEM INVITE YOU INTO THEIR OWN SILENT REALM.
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