Behind The Camera

Photography is both a deeply intimate and highly impersonal act.

In one sense, we become one with the eye behind the lens. Through the photographer's careful composition, we see exactly what she wants us to see. Her vision becomes our vision, and we share a unique idea of what the world can be.

At the same time, by definition, the identity of the photographer remains a mystery to the viewers of her photos. We have no opportunity to see her at work, to understand how she moved within the scene to engage her subject. Mostly anonymous, she leaves us with precious few clues to imagine what she thought and felt about her photograph.

That is why I love to look at shots of photographers at work.

Like this one of my fourth-born, braving the wild winter winds of Whidbey Island to snap the setting sun over her beloved Puget Sound.

While her posture reveals quite a bit about her intensity, focus and determination to capture the scene just so, as her mother, I notice something more.

She is smiling.

And that tells me all I need to know.