Lightscapes Nature
Photography
Photographing the North American Landscape
Nature
Photography by Kerry Leibowitz
On Landscapes, Photography and Their
Relevance to Me -- A Personal Statement
I love landscape photography; it’s difficult for me to
articulate the reasons why, but I’ll make an attempt.When I was a kid, it became obvious that I had some innate visual
artistic talent.(Key word:some.The significance of
this will become obvious below.)I
did a lot of drawing and when my mother realized this she wasted little time
sending me to a community center art class when I was eight or nine.What became apparent at that class was that while I did indeed have
“some” talent, I didn’t have nearly enough.I was, I’m quite sure, easily the least talented individual in the
class.I knew what I was doing
“wrong,” but for the life of me I couldn’t fix it to my satisfaction…or,
for that matter, to the satisfaction of the course instructor.
From that point on, my visual expression lay largely dormant for decades.Focus was placed on my verbal and written expression, which came more
naturally and, I found, was more easily developed.
Meanwhile, I dabbled in photography beginning in my high school years, but never
pursued it with particular gusto.When
I did fiddle with it, it was typically in the form of photographing landscapes
while on trips to scenic places.I
was again frustrated with my inability to translate my vision—the composed
images that I had in my head, and saw with my eyes—to film, just as I’d been
exasperated in my attempts to draw or paint the same sorts of images years
earlier.What I didn’t realize at
the time was that it was my lack of comprehension of the technical fundamentals
of photography that was holding me back.
Six or seven years ago I became sufficiently motivated, for reasons I’m still
uncertain of, to overcome this logistical roadblock.And so I did, with relative ease, once I put my mind to it.A friend of mine—Danny Burk, a highly accomplished photographer—was
generous enough to spend a week or so discussing the rudiments of exposure with
me via e-mail a number of years ago, and from there I was off and running.Having put the procedural aspects of the endeavor behind me I was free to
concentrate on the art of composition, which was always my strong suit.
What photography has allowed me to do is to translate my vision to a finished
project.I’m always surprised when
accomplished visual artists—those who draw; paint and/or sculpt with such
acumen—gravitate toward photography.I
doubt that if I had the natural visual skill of most of those folks, that I’d
ever have made the leap myself.If
my hand was capable of translating my vision, that’s what I’d focus
on.I have the vision; the camera is
the tool I use to make it come to life.
I love landscape photography specifically because I love landscapes.I love looking at them; I love standing in and among them; I love
capturing images of them with a camera; I love working with the images of them
with software; I love making prints of them.In short, I love the whole process of landscape photography, from capture
to print.
It’s my sincere hope that this emotion is evident to
those who view my images.
The entire contents of this Web site, images and text, are the
copyrighted property of Kerry Leibowitz and may not be duplicated or reproduced
in any form without express consent. Image rights may be purchased; please
contact me to make arrangements. Images may not be hot
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