Remember

I want everyone who’s reading this blog to stop for a moment, and remember what all this is all about. Whether you’re a photographer or not doesn’t really matter. Remember what *this* is about. Life, memories, the experience of being human.

I got on the internet this morning to catch up on news before I started some work, and clicked over to one of my favorite photographer’s blogs. Upon landing there, I learned of the passing of Tracy Turpen, a photographer who I never met, but has touched me nonetheless, like she has clearly touched so many people. It’s sobering, and saddening, and reminds me of what is important, and of the real importance of what I’m doing.

You see, I’ve been in a photographic rut. I have been feeling uncreative, and like I’ve been shooting the same old stuff over and over. I had a great opportunity to photograph some beautiful things in Oregon in December, and since then I have been discouraging myself and driving myself to the brink of utter frustration. Learning of Tracy’s death changes all that, reminds me why I take all the photos, why I feel compelled to create and to share. In part, it is to record moments that we will never have again, moments that might slip by forever if I don’t record them. Of course, photography is a vain pursuit in that regard, as you are only creating a reproduction of that moment. But you are also sometimes, if you are lucky, preserving a beautiful sunset with your family, or the smell of honeysuckle in the heavy summer air, or the sounds of children’s laughter, or a fall breeze’s chill caress on your face.

You are recording the world in a way that is uniquely you, as you see it, as it happens. You are putting your stamp on the world, asserting your existence, creating something. And even when it feels like it doesn’t matter, or no one cares, or no one’s watching or listening, you’re wrong. You’re touching someone somewhere, even if it’s just yourself. If it makes you happy to create, if it gives you something to grasp, then that is enough.

I know of Tracy because she photographed a friend’s wedding, and it was so beautiful that I found her website, and her blog, and have been following her photography ever since. She always photographed with such a sense of joy and real emotion, and her photographs express so much about the people in them, and about Tracy herself. She was clearly someone who set out to wring what she could out of life, and enjoy it on her terms.

Maybe we can all take something from that. Mostly, we can remember that all the moments are important, because the culmination of those moments is a life, and we never know how much time is allotted for us.

The world will miss you, Tracy, but perhaps you will rest a bit easier knowing that you made your mark.