Creeks in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico and Arizona are often dry, but during the summer monsoon season and at times in winter and spring, they run with cold, clear water that adds a crisp, light melody to the ever-present bird chatter. Hiking along those mountain waterways on a warm, sunny day is one of the most peaceful, calming activities you could imagine.
It was during one such hike that I decided to turn my camera away from the breathtaking vistas and startling rock formations that are so attractive to photographers in the American Southwest and instead aim my lens at the nearby creekbed, which was running strong with water that rippled over the mineral filled rocks along the bottom.
Back at home, I loaded those first streambed photos onto the computer and was amazed to discover wild and colorful abstract images. The camera's shutter had captured the shimmering stream, revealing a surface frozen in time. That surface, shattered and shaped by the rocks below, acted like hundreds of tiny lenses that magnified the watery landscape below.
Looking at these streambed photos, you can't help but be reminded of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who wondered at a world in flux and famously said that no one can step in the same stream twice. Each of my photographs illustrates that idea. Each captures a single moment of a constantly changing streambed surface that will never appear exactly the same as it does at that instant.
Philosophers today would go further and say that the water flowing over the streambed is a metaphor for reality. The rocky streambed is the real world that you can never see accurately and directly, but only as an imperfect image distorted by the reality of the water, which is constantly changing.
Mystics might instead see dreams in these streambed photos. The word 'bed' reminds us of sleep while the word 'stream' suggests the flow and change of dreams. Meditate quietly on these photos and you may be surprised at the myriad of images that emerge from the flow.
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Insistent Illusions
Fine Art Prints
All Streambed Art images are available as beautiful, color prints on a variety of high-quality, acid-free papers or canvas, framed or unframed, in sizes up to 24" x 36".
Click here for more information.
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