—Drawing Light

November, 2021

A friend recently told me that the Chinese characters for the word light are “chasing shadows.” And, the word “photography” comes from the Greek and means drawing light, or lines of light. It was Sir John Herschel, an astronomer, who coined the word. He measured the sun’s rays, and was an early “chaser” of light. Astronomers say to get out the telescopes and feast your eyes on those photons. Light is escaping. They find in light colors to learn about the makeup of planets and stars. Find planets. Measure distances.

Now I am back in this place where I was two years ago. It seems longer. The world crashed and changed. Still now we are back together. Mostly. Some are missing, one died, one sick, one afraid, others with family or traveling. I feel like I have come out of darkness. Not just the coastal fog where I live, not just the darkened rooms where I’ve been sheltered, but darkened by the fear, the meanness, the sickness, the state of everything. Since January I’ve been hearing echoes of Leonard Cohen—“…that lawless crowd…they’ve summoned up a thundercloud..”. Then those words, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”. I’ve been spending the months since looking for that light.

So now I’m here. In this mountain town in southwestern New Mexico. Once more in the Southwest. Once more in that high atmosphere light. I feel free again. After a morning of looking at photographs, I walk into the bathroom. And look again at the wall. At the magic. The light. The color. The life. The light is dancing and I want to record it. To dance with it. To become a part of it.

Then as I turn to go, my shadow follows me out.