Photography

I was thinking when I was standing in Elliott Erwitt's kitchen and looking at the most amazing photograph, that there was a reason I was here on this path. Maybe, I should stop doubting it and just go forward, believing that photography is what I want to do. I could stand here and look at the every job and think of the negatives of it all, but in truth, I just have to believe and do it. I love the photographic image and have always been fascinated by it.

I believe that humans are just souls and spirit. They hang onto the image, convincing themselves of their convictions, their beliefs.  This is why the "American" culture is so hooked on the drug of the image. This is why photography is so unbelievable, it stops time, makes us feel immortal, for a second in time, our reflection, our image, and our belief of our underlying knowledge that we are only here for a second in time, living a tiny mortal existence, our soul and spirit grazing the earth for a second, before becoming part of the wind.

Photography will never die because it is what we remember, are remembered for. Film only remakes the past, poorly at times, great at others. It is the ancient way of story telling re-maid. Photography puts the truth in our face, even if it is flawed or changed. It makes us feel safe or shows us our deepest fears. Every photograph stops time and records what our mortal brain forgets, which often changes our memories to our own liking. This is why film has made us comatose, because it plays up to this fantasy of who we think we are, losing it in the story line, rather than simply showing us a photograph.

-Alex Gabrielle, July 2010