Scattered Beach Stones
Washington

20×24″ prints are $1,500
30×40″ prints are $3,000

This image was photographed on yet another Spring day which was nothing but rain, rain, rain, except for one brief respite. I’ve often seen beach stones surrounded by sand and looked for a cohesive composition without success but on this day I was able to make the one exposure that resulted in this image.

All of my photographs are composed intuitively and it’s not until much later that I can study the image at my leisure to understand many of the visual relationships of the various elements. Even so, how an image comes to be remains a mystery to me. This photograph is one of those that combines abstract elements with an almost hyper-realism, which I find an intriguing combination. On the 30x40” prints every grain of sand is clearly resolved on the print.

Since the angle of the sunlight illuminating the scene is the same as the angle of lighting on the final print, there’s an increased sense of depth and three-dimensionality. There’s an active interplay between the shape, color and visual weight of the the rocks and their groupings that has a peaceful yet very active tension.

When I contemplate the image, I almost feel like I’m looking at some ancient writing in a forgotten language; yet the message seems complete and I go away feeling as though some private secret of nature has been shared with me.