from The Reluctant Artist
What begun as a faint glow now became actual photons of light creeping over the land toward the man sitting on the small hill just west of the illumination’s path. Cleaon watched the approaching light as if he wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe. It was true that light was necessary for him to do his art, but on the other hand, it was light that emphasized the imperfections in the world. Shadows and darkness hid the multitude of flaws that daylight pointed out to all except the blind. Cleaon was not blind. On the contrary, what he saw in the light was detail and meaning so great that it many times caused him to close his eyes as if the truth was too much to absorb. What others might have seen as imperfections, he saw as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that, when assembled, created the brilliance of nature joined with man. The problem was that his cameras could not view this world of light and emotions interlocked. He attempted to achieve this with his manipulations using his software programs on his photographs, but the final product was a mere ghost of what he really comprehended.
The light now moved rapidly up to his feet, stopping for only a nanosecond to lick his shoes, and then proceeded over his body and up the hill behind him. Cleaon wondered what the light sensed about him. Did this all encompassing energy see him as an imperfection sitting on this beautiful, little hill? The light seemed to gather in all that it touched, even him, and put a stamp of approval over the world without so much as a whoosh! As it moved onward toward the west, it never looked back to see any imperfections…it was all perfect.
Like Diogenes gathering his lantern, Cleaon picked up his camera, stood, and walked slowly back along this hiking trail in Mission Trails Regional Park in east San Diego, to where he had parked his car. Taking photos this morning seemed petty compared to adrenaline he had just felt when watching the sunrise. He would come back again, as he often did, to this area and see what images of lighted reality were presented to him and his camera.
What begun as a faint glow now became actual photons of light creeping over the land toward the man sitting on the small hill just west of the illumination’s path. Cleaon watched the approaching light as if he wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe. It was true that light was necessary for him to do his art, but on the other hand, it was light that emphasized the imperfections in the world. Shadows and darkness hid the multitude of flaws that daylight pointed out to all except the blind. Cleaon was not blind. On the contrary, what he saw in the light was detail and meaning so great that it many times caused him to close his eyes as if the truth was too much to absorb. What others might have seen as imperfections, he saw as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that, when assembled, created the brilliance of nature joined with man. The problem was that his cameras could not view this world of light and emotions interlocked. He attempted to achieve this with his manipulations using his software programs on his photographs, but the final product was a mere ghost of what he really comprehended.
The light now moved rapidly up to his feet, stopping for only a nanosecond to lick his shoes, and then proceeded over his body and up the hill behind him. Cleaon wondered what the light sensed about him. Did this all encompassing energy see him as an imperfection sitting on this beautiful, little hill? The light seemed to gather in all that it touched, even him, and put a stamp of approval over the world without so much as a whoosh! As it moved onward toward the west, it never looked back to see any imperfections…it was all perfect.
Like Diogenes gathering his lantern, Cleaon picked up his camera, stood, and walked slowly back along this hiking trail in Mission Trails Regional Park in east San Diego, to where he had parked his car. Taking photos this morning seemed petty compared to adrenaline he had just felt when watching the sunrise. He would come back again, as he often did, to this area and see what images of lighted reality were presented to him and his camera.